Our Own Strange Little Family and the Founder's Elements
by xGryffinPuffx
Summary: The second story in the "Our Own Strange Little Family" series. Hermione and Draco head to Hogwarts early much to their delight. Amidst making new friends and growing closer as a family, trouble is brewing at Hogwarts. This new family's bond will be tested when loyalties are questioned, the past is brought to the present, and old enemies loom ever nearer.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again everyone, and welcome to the second story in the series "Our Own Strange Little Family"! In this story, we will pick up where we left off from the first. Please be aware that if you are a new reader, and you haven't read the first story yet, you will be a little lost. You can find the first story by clicking on my profile link. For those readers who are joining me again, welcome back, and I hope you enjoy this story as much as you did the first one! I will give you a warning though. I may be a little slower updating this story as I connect important plot points, just so that this story makes sense with canon points and my own AU points. My worst fear is that readers won't understand my story, or that plots are all over the place making them seem unrealistic and spastic. I enjoyed reading your comments and questions on the last story, and if you ever have any questions, please ask. Questions allow me to see where I need to clarify something, and if I believe that it is essential everyone understand because it is important to the plot, then I certainly want to clarify! Also, I still want people to weigh in with their thoughts about Draco in Gryffindor. They won't be sorted into Houses in this story, but they will be in the next, so I need as many people to let me know their thoughts as possible. You can comment or PM me. For those who already have weighed in, thank you! For those that still want to, there is still plenty of time. However, I need well thought out arguments and points, and not just "That's stupid to put him in Gryffindor" or "I'll quit reading if he isn't in Slytherin". Well thought out replies only will be considered in the final decision. I believe that is all my announcements. Without further delay, let the reading begin! And Merry Christmas!**

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The sun was slowly rising above the mountains, it's stunning golden rays creeping across homes, barns, and the picturesque valley they all resided in. The appearance of the sun brought with it the singing of birds and distant livestock waking. Somewhere a rooster also chimed in, his loud crows waking the few stragglers the sun itself couldn't wake. A couple of those stragglers were still softly snoring within Prince Manor.

Soft beams of light were coming through the curtains of Severus Snape's room, and were shining across his bed. The beams illuminated over two figures snuggled together, peace and contentment evident on their still sleeping faces. Again, that same rooster crowed somewhere in the valley, his proclamations of morning finally reaching Severus' ears. He groaned, wishing that he was within range, so he could Stun that blasted bird and resume sleeping.

He tried to roll over and go back to sleep for a while, but found that there was a small child laying half on top of him, making his movements to roll over impossible. He couldn't help but smirk as his daughter rested comfortably on his chest, and somehow Cubby Bear had managed to make his way to Severus' tummy, sit halfway up, and was staring at him as though daring him to disturb the girl's slumber. After all, it was a big day for her.

Today was the day Hermione would be going to Hogwarts. Unofficially, of course. She was to finish her last year of primary school at Hogwarts along with Draco Malfoy. In a million years, Severus never imagined that he would be sending a child to Hogwarts, let alone two. With Hermione as his ward and Draco as his godson, he was responsible for their well-being while they were away at school. Like any normal parent, he worried a little how they would fare this year being the only two students there who weren't allowed to do magic yet, and the only two students finishing their primary schooling. He was worried that they would be bullied by the older students for it, or that the older students would try to corrupt them, getting them involved in situations they couldn't get themselves out of for one reason or another. Hermione and Draco were naturally curious children, and while curiosity wasn't a sin, it could get them into a lot of trouble at Hogwarts. The castle wasn't necessarily dangerous, but the surrounding areas were like the Forbidden Forest or the Black Lake. It would be just like some of the older students to convince his children to explore the forest or swim in the lake, and something bad would happen. Hundreds of terrible scenarios were going through his mind as he thought about the coming year, and those thoughts only made him want to stay in bed, and keep Hermione locked away in Prince Manor until she was older.

However, there were good thoughts that would sneak in between the bad ones too. One thing he was happy about was that Hermione would be around many children who were just like her. Hopefully he could teach her that she wasn't a freak, regardless of what her parents had said about her and to her for many years, and that at Hogwarts she was perfectly normal. He also hoped that this year his children would make new friends who were positive role models and good influences, and he certainly wanted that for Draco. He hoped that his godson would see that with the right friends, and in the right environment, he could live outside of his father's shadow and defy what people thought of his family. While this year could cause his hair to turn grey, this year also held the promise of being a great year of growth for his children.

Hermione moaned in her sleep, and snuggled into Severus. Since Hermione had come into his life earlier this summer, Severus had felt a range of emotions that he wouldn't have thought he could feel. The most prominent feelings being love and protection. He knew he would endure a lot of heart ache, but he wouldn't give up his daughter for anything. He just hoped that Hermione knew that. He was willing to change a lot to make sure she knew. One major characteristic he was willing to change was how he interacted with students, especially Gryffindor students. For years he had been known as the greasy bat of the dungeons, and a professor that put up with nothing. He had always justified his teaching methods because he taught a dangerous subject that could cause tremendous injury or even death, and his strictness ensured that his students were kept safe. However, he was harsher than necessary on Gryffindors, and when Hermione had been worried that he would hate her if she was eventually sorted into Gryffindor, he knew he would have to ease her fears. The only way to ease her fears was to show her that he could be fair to Gryffindors. Perhaps not like them, but be fair to them.

As much as he wanted to continue sleeping, he knew he needed to get ready as did Hermione. He was thankful that he, Minerva, and Narcissa had packed Hermione and Draco's belongings the night before to save them the headache and added stress of making sure they were packing everything the children would need this morning. Narcissa and Draco would be coming over to Prince Manor after breakfast so that they all could go to King's Cross station together. Severus had asked Albus if he could ride the train to Hogwarts, just to make sure Hermione and Draco were all right, and he wasn't surprised when Albus had readily agreed. While Albus wasn't quite the worrier Severus was when it came to Hermione, he still did worry a little. Severus would tell Narcissa when she brought Draco over later that he was taking the train as he knew she would be relieved. A professor usually did ride the train, sitting in the compartment with the prefects and Head Boy and Girl, to ensure the students' safety should anything go wrong. The Heads of Houses were usually the ones assigned to take the train, and they would alternate every year. Severus had never done it as he had always flat out refused. Now that his children were on board, he wanted to be there for their first train ride. He couldn't wait to see the looks on the prefects' and Heads' faces when it was him who came to sit with them in the compartment. He had a feeling that he would have the compartment all to himself, save for the Slytherin prefects. Perhaps the train ride wouldn't be so bad after all.

Making the final decision to get up, Severus gently nudged Hermione trying to wake her and was greeted with a groan as she buried her face in his chest. Snorting at her antics, he nudged her again and this time said softly, "Time to wake up, Cub. You're going to Hogwarts today."

One moment Hermione was snuggled into him, and in the next she sat bolt upright, twisting around to look at him, her mouth in a perfect "o" from surprise before she cried with excitement, "Today _is_ the day! I've got to get ready!"

She scrambled out of bed, covers flying as she grabbed Cubby Bear off Severus, kissed her father good morning on the cheek, and took off out of the room shouting over her shoulder, "Good morning, Daddy!"

Severus stared after the whirlwind that was his daughter and muttered to himself, "Well, that was easier than I thought it would be." Much slower than Hermione had, Severus hoisted himself up out of bed, and lumbered into his bathroom to get ready for a long day of travel.

Meanwhile in her room, Hermione was hastily getting ready. She flew through her morning ritual, looking at her hair and reminding herself to have her father fix it up at breakfast. After finishing in the bathroom, she ran into her room, throwing her clothes on that Mrs. Malfoy had laid out for her the night before, as she said to Cubby Bear, "Today is a big day, Cubby Bear. I've got to make a good first impression. I don't want the other kids or professors to know about my life before I came to live with Daddy, you know? I don't want them to think I'm weird or feel sorry for me. I also don't want to answer a lot of questions. I don't like thinking about my parents, I get sad when I do. I also hope that Daddy keeps his promise about being fairer to the Gryffindors. I know he said he wouldn't hate me for being in Gryffindor if I happen to get sorted there next year, but I don't want to take any chances. If he gets practice liking them this year, maybe next year won't be so bad."

Severus was finishing adjusting his grey jumper as he walked past Hermione's room and heard her talking to someone inside. He knew he should give her privacy, but he was curious, and quietly opened her door to hear what she was saying. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly as he saw and listened to Hermione pouring out her thoughts to Cubby Bear who was listening attentively from Hermione's bed. However, the tiny smile on his face melted away when he heard her confide to the toy, "I hope I don't disappoint Daddy, or Granddad, or Mimi. They were so nice to take me in and give me a family and food and clothes and a home. I just don't want them to think they made a mistake by taking me in. I want to prove to them that I can be the best student, and that I won't be an embarrassment for them. You know they're all professors, right Cubby Bear? So, I've got to work extra hard, and be really good. Hopefully nothing bad happens."

Without saying anything, Severus softly closed her door. He didn't want Hermione to feel all that pressure, and he hoped that Draco didn't feel the same way. He would try to alleviate some of her worries and pressures at breakfast.

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Ten minutes later, Hermione ran into the kitchen, Cubby Bear tucked under her arm. She slid across the floor to the table, quickly seated herself and her polar bear down at her place, and started digging into her breakfast as soon as it appeared. Severus watched her with some amusement, happy to see how comfortable she had become at Prince Manor. Yet, despite her displays of some surface comforts, he knew – and had overheard – that she still had some deeper level insecurities. He would wait to address those fears until she was finished eating, so in the meantime, he finished his breakfast, sipped his coffee, and read his newspaper.

A few minutes later, Severus heard Hermione setting her cutlery down on her plate, and lowered his paper to see her staring at him with a soft smile and expectant eyes. He folded the paper and placed it on the table as he asked, "Yes?"

"When is Mrs. Malfoy bringing Draco over?"

Severus looked up at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall and answered, "Should be soon. However, I want to talk to you about something important before they arrive."

"Yes, Daddy?" asked Hermione.

Severus sighed before he said, "I wanted to reiterate to you that your performance at school does not correlate with how much I love you. Even if you struggle in school, I will still love you. If you flawlessly excel in your studies, I will still love you. If you get into trouble over something, I will still love you. If you graduate from Hogwarts without a single detention, I will still love you. Sweetheart, I will always love you no matter what. I don't want you to feel that you must be perfect to earn my love. You will never have to earn my love. I have already given it to you. I am your father, you are my daughter. You're stuck with me, and it is us against the world, remember? You belong with me. What do you think?"

At some point during Severus' speech, Hermione had looked down at her lap, but was now looking up at Severus through her eyelashes. She was speechless. She had secretly felt all the ways in which her father had described. Did she believe him? She had no reason not to. Wordlessly, Hermione stood and walked around the table to where her father was still sitting, staring at her with benign interest. After a few seconds, Hermione said, "I just don't want you to be disappointed. I don't want you to regret taking me in."

Severus picked her up and sat her on his lap. He didn't allow her to nuzzle into him as he wanted her to see the sincerity in his eyes as he explained to her how he felt. "I will never regret taking you into my heart. I will never regret forming this family with you. There may be times that I am disappointed in your choices, but that doesn't mean I will be disappointed in _you_. A couple bad choices don't define our overall character if we are trying to learn from those mistakes, and not repeat them. As a child, I know you will make mistakes, and as your father, I will do my best to help you see the mistakes and how you can grow from them. Granddad and Mimi will help you as well. I will also make mistakes, and Granddad and Mimi will help me, and there may be times that you can help me too."

When he was finished, that was when he allowed Hermione to break eye contact and cuddle into him. As he said these words about mistakes to her, he tried to apply that wisdom to himself. Why was it that he could forgive Hermione for her mistakes – mistakes she hadn't even made yet! – but he couldn't forgive himself for his? Perhaps it was because his mistakes had had devastating consequences? He closed his eyes against the barrage of thoughts and emotions, deciding that he would dissect them more when he was alone in the train compartment heading to Hogwarts. His thoughts were interrupted by four sweet, little words as he heard Hermione say, "I love you, Daddy."

"And I love you, Cub."

"Are you going to be this nice to me at school?" Hermione asked.

"I cannot show any favoritism," Severus told her, arching his eyebrow at her question even though she couldn't see it, "but I will not be mean to you. I will be fair. Behind closed doors, however, we will be exactly like this."

"Good," said Hermione as she got in one last cuddle, and then hopped down off his lap. She turned to look at the clock on the kitchen wall and asked, "When do we have to leave?"

"We will leave here at half past ten," Severus answered. "Students leave at eleven."

Hermione was about to ask something else when she heard the fireplace roar to life. Giving Severus an excited grin, she tore from the kitchen into the living room to see her grandparents stepping out of the grate. While she was disappointed that it wasn't Draco and his mother, she was always thrilled to see her grandparents. She and Minerva locked eyes first.

"Good morning, kitten!" Minerva greeted as she lowered herself so that Hermione could give her a hug. Albus remained standing, but drew Hermione into a tight hug nonetheless.

As she broke away from her grandfather, she was able to see his face, and she noticed how tired he looked. Ever since she and her father had had dinner at McGonagall Manor, and her Granddad had had that terrible attack of chest pains, he hadn't looked or sounded good since. Hermione was worried about him. She knew this wasn't normal for him as he had always been light on his feet and jovial since she had known him. Granted she hadn't known him long, but she knew this was atypical. She didn't like it, but her father had reassured her that he would recover and that he wasn't worried. Hermione could tell he was worried just by the tone of his voice. She was more astute than the adults gave her credit for. During her years of abuse at the hands of her parents, she had developed the skill of hearing and seeing subtle details that alerted her to any change in a person's demeanor. It had initially developed as a survival skill to avoid her parents when she felt she was in danger. Now she used it to gauge others' behaviors, not only for her safety, but now just because she cared to know how others were doing. And she could tell now that something wasn't right.

Albus winked at her as Minerva was saying, "We just wanted to come by and wish you luck, sweetheart. If you or Draco need anything, please come to me or your Granddad or your father. While we can't show favoritism, we are still here for you."

"That's what Daddy was saying," Hermione told her.

Albus chuckled and said hoarsely, "Your father is a wise man. However, pet, we still want you to come to us. Don't feel that just because we are at school doesn't mean we no longer care about you."

"Yes, Granddad," Hermione smiled at him.

Albus smiled back at her, the twinkle in his eyes small but still present. He slowly sank down on the sofa and beckoned for Hermione to join him. While she and Albus talked, Minerva walked over to stand beside Severus and quietly confided to him, "Albus is still weak."

Severus silently stared at the older man before he softly demanded, "What's wrong with him, Minerva?"

"We can tell you more in-depth details when we get to the castle, but there's word from the portraits that Albus may be feeling weak because it is possible that Hogwarts' defenses have been compromised," explained Minerva.

"Compromised? Why would that effect Albus' health?" questioned Severus.

"Because if the castle's enchantments and defenses are weakened or depleted, the castle will supplement itself by using the Headmaster's magic," Minerva told him as she too stared pointedly at Albus. "This is the result. Should Hogwarts' defenses get weaker, Albus will be much worse than this."

Severus frowned as he watched Hermione converse with Albus, the pair laughing and smiling together over something silly. He knew that Hermione would be heartbroken if anything were to happen to Albus. It was because of Albus that she was taken from her abusive former home in the first place. However, if anything happened to Albus, Hermione wouldn't be the only family member destroyed by the loss of one of their own.

At the thought, Severus cleared his throat as Minerva said lightheartedly, "Well, my dear, we just wanted to wish you luck before the Malfoys arrived, and tell you that we love you. Also, dear, let Draco know that when you both arrive that you are to sit with me at the Head table for the Welcome Feast. That is, unless you befriend some older students before you get there that you would rather sit with them at their House table."

"All right, I'll tell him," Hermione promised.

"Thank you," Minerva told the young girl. Turning to Albus, she asked gently, "Are you ready to go, love?"

"Yes, Tabby," he replied, slowly rising to his feet, and allowing Minerva to go ahead of him through the Floo. Minerva offered Hermione and Severus a small wave of farewell, and then stepped through shortly followed by her husband who smiled at the pair before he stepped through as well.

When the fire had died away, Hermione turned to her father, her bottom lip between her teeth as she asked, "Will Granddad be ok?"

Severus sighed through his nose. He didn't want to lie to her, but he also didn't want to burden her with all the knowledge. Severus knelt in front of the little girl so they were eye level and replied, "I believe he will be just fine. He's feeling a bit ill now, but he will eventually recover."

Hermione nodded, still feeling unsure. She had just found this family, she wasn't ready for one of them to die just yet. "All right."

Severus gently tugged her bottom lip free from her teeth, and stood back up just as the fire again roared to life. This time it was Draco, and Hermione's excitement about going to Hogwarts returned when she saw her friend. Draco stumbled out, a big grin plastered on his face despite his less-than-graceful arrival, his mother stepping out seconds after him. Severus and Narcissa silently acknowledged each other as they watched their children greet one another.

Narcissa sidestepped the excited youth, and stood beside Severus as she asked, "How's Hermione this morning?"

Severus regarded the woman for a bit before he answered, "Nervous and excited. How's Draco?"

"Much the same," said Narcissa.

"I wanted to have a word with him before we left for King's Cross," Severus told her. "Also, I am riding the train this year to Hogwarts. I'll be able to keep an eye on them."

Narcissa let out a relieved sigh. She was anxious enough for her young son to be going to Hogwarts early, even though it was what she wanted, but she felt a lot better that Severus would be on the train should anything happen. She didn't expect anything to as nothing really happened on the Hogwarts Express, but having Severus there made her feel better.

Severus looked over at the mantel clock and saw the time was a quarter to ten. They were supposed to leave at half past ten, so he needed to have this discussion with the children about rules and boundaries. He had mostly had this conversation with Hermione already, but it wouldn't hurt for her to hear it again. He cleared his throat and said with an authoritative tone, "Hermione, Draco, I need to talk with both of you."

Hermione and Draco looked up from their excited conversation, and immediately came to stand in front of Severus. Narcissa was standing slightly behind him so that all the attention was on him. She couldn't help but let out a quiet snort of amusement as she noticed the children looked properly scolded even though they had done nothing.

Severus carefully surveyed each child before he stated, "This year you have been awarded a special privilege thanks to the Headmaster. You both are the first students to come to Hogwarts for their primary studies. However, you will be treated as all the other children. While we are at school, you both will address Minerva and myself as Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. However, behind closed doors, you may call us Minerva and Severus. While the professors are aware that Hermione is Minerva's ward and Draco is my godson, the student body is not aware of these facts. You may tell them if you wish; however, it may be in your best interest if you keep these facts close to you rather than gossip it all over the castle. Children can be cruel, and while some students may think that your relation to me and Minerva is impressive, others may see that as a means to manipulate you or bully you. Please exercise good judgment and discretion if you decide to tell anyone as the year goes on.

Furthermore, even though you have family among the staff, all school rules apply to you and neither of you are above those rules. If you are caught breaking those rules, which are put in place to ensure your safety, you will be punished as any other student would, and you will be punished again by either myself or Minerva since we are your guardians and responsible for your well-being while at school. Draco, your offenses, should you commit any, will be detailed and a letter sent home to your mother."

At this, Narcissa stared at her son intensely as though to drive the point home that should he get in trouble at school he would pay his penance. Draco vigorously shook his head that he understood. Hermione merely stared at Severus, still as a statue. Looking back at her, his features softened slightly as he came to the second part of his speech, "But I want you both to know that your performance at school, whether desirable, appalling, or somewhere in between, will not determine how much the adults in your lives care for you." At this, Narcissa smiled at Draco, affirming Severus' words. Severus noticed that Draco smiled back at her, and Hermione was smiling at him.

Severus nodded slightly to his daughter as he asked, "Do either of you have any questions?"

Hermione and Draco shared a brief glance at one another before they both shook their head in the negative. Severus nodded, and then turned to Narcissa and asked, "Do you have anything to add to the rules and boundaries?"

"I believe you covered those areas pretty well," said Narcissa as she stepped forward to stand beside Severus. "I will add though that it is important that you both take care of each other. You will be one of the youngest there, so look after each other and keep each other out of trouble, and keep your heads down. I know that you will have Severus, Minerva, and the other professors there to help you and look after you, but if either of you need me, I am only a letter away or you can use the Floo."

Both children smiled at her and nodded. Looking over at Severus, she said, "That's all I wanted to add."

"Very well," Severus stated as he looked back at the mantle clock. It was ten o'clock. "We must leave in a half hour. Narcissa, I will retrieve Hermione's trunk, and I will relinquish it over to you."

Narcissa nodded as Severus briskly disappeared upstairs to return a few minutes later with a miniature trunk which he placed lightly in Narcissa's outstretched hand. Turning his back on the children, so that only Narcissa could hear him, he stated, "When we get to King's Cross, I will need to make myself scarce. If you would please take Hermione with you and help her, I would appreciate it."

"Of course, Severus," Narcissa agreed immediately as she pocketed Hermione's trunk. "I'll see to it that she gets on the train."

Severus nodded his thanks to her as he looked over his shoulder to see his daughter and godson once again enveloped in excited chatter. He turned and walked towards the children as he said, "Hermione? May I speak with you a moment?"

"Sure," Hermione said happily as Draco walked over to his mother who started talking to him as well. Once they were out of earshot of the Malfoys, Hermione asked, "What's going on, Daddy?"

"When we leave the manor, I will need to leave you with Narcissa and Draco," he said. At her expression, he quickly explained, "Remember when we talked about the boundaries of me being your professor, and that the students are not aware that I am your guardian? When the children leave for Hogwarts, I cannot be there to see you off as the other parents can. The students would find it rather strange."

"You sure you aren't embarrassed by me?" Hermione questioned, slight accusation lacing her tone.

Severus arched his brow at her sass and her question as he stated bluntly, "Yes."

Hermione looked away and sighed. She knew there were boundaries, she knew he would have to treat her like another student, she knew her family had secrets to keep for everyone's safety, she knew. But just because she knew didn't mean it was going to be easy for her. It wasn't going to be easy going through her day with her family keeping her at arm's length until evening time. It wasn't going to be easy being so formal with each other. It was a change that she knew she had to partake in, but she didn't like it. She nodded.

"Good girl," Severus commended, briefly running his hand over her head. The gesture reminded her that she needed him to fix her braid.

Quietly she asked, "Will you fix my braid, please?"

Without a word, he raised his wand and pointed it at her hair. Immediately, she felt her hair smooth itself and tighten in the hair tie again. Lightly running her hand over her braid, she was pleased to feel that it felt flawless. She grinned up at him in thanks, and then left him to join Draco and Narcissa. Severus overheard Narcissa telling Hermione that she liked her hair, and thought that her braid was pretty. He looked over to see Narcissa smirking at him at which he rolled his eyes.

Twenty minutes later, Severus signaled that it was time for them all to leave. When the children asked where they were going and how they were getting there, Narcissa answered that they were Apparating to King's Cross station. Draco's features were a mixture of dread and confusion at the mention of Apparition, while Hermione bluntly asked in slight disbelief, "We're traveling to Hogwarts from a Muggle train station?"

Before anymore questions could be asked, Severus put his hand on her shoulder and led her out of the manor while Narcissa did the same to Draco. The adults silently marched the children outside the boundaries of Prince Manor, and once outside the wards, they took their respective child by the hand, turned on the spot, and with a loud _crack_ , all four disappeared.

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"I hate Apparating," both Draco and Hermione said together once their feet had slammed back onto solid ground. Draco was gripping his mother for support and Hermione was clinging to Severus. Hermione felt like she was chewing on what she had for breakfast. Narcissa and Severus allowed the children a moment to gather themselves, Narcissa rubbing Draco's back while Severus ran his hand over Hermione's hair. After a while, the children recovered and noticed where their parents had taken them: King's Cross station.

"So, what are we doing here again?" Draco asked.

Hermione looked up at Severus and said, "Do students take a train to Hogwarts?"

Narcissa smiled at her as she replied, "That's correct, Hermione."

Giving the older woman a curious look she asked, "Won't Muggles see a bunch of wizarding children boarding a train?"

Severus smirked, "How about we go in and find out?"

Narcissa discreetly took the children's trunks from her pocket, placed them on separate trolleys, and returned them to full size. Severus and the children watched her and when she was finished she told the kids, "Each of you take your trolleys, and let's go inside."

Each child quickly grabbed a trolley and followed Severus inside the station with Narcissa bringing up the rear. Draco and Hermione were trying to pay attention to where Severus was going along with looking around the impressive and busy station. Hermione marveled that they were in a place full of Muggles, and none of them were aware that a magical train that would take young witches and wizards to a magical school was within the same station as their ordinary trains. Hermione wondered how much had gone on around her that had been a part of the magical world and she hadn't been the wiser.

While thinking she hadn't been paying attention to where she was walking, and she had to stop abruptly so she wouldn't crash into her father who had stopped. Draco hadn't been as quick, and as a result bumped into Hermione. She quickly turned to tell him to watch it, and the look on his face told her that he was about to tell her the same thing. However, before an argument could erupt, Severus arched an eyebrow at Draco to silence him while Narcissa did the same to Hermione. Narcissa pointed to Severus to alert Hermione that she needed to pay attention to him, and at the older woman's prompt, Hermione looked to her father. Severus beckoned Draco to come closer, and then Severus explained, "The platform to Hogwarts is between platforms nine and ten. It is called Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. To get to it, you have to go at a bit of a run at the wall between the two platforms."

Hermione was looking at her father as though she was suspicious that he lying to them while Draco verbally exclaimed, "You've got to be joking!"

"No, he's quite right," Narcissa confirmed giving her son a pointed look. Draco still looked to be in disbelief, but remained quiet. "Since Severus can't go through with you, I will go first to show you, and then he will guide you both through after me."

The children watched her as she casually and confidently walked ahead, and was absorbed into the brick, disappearing completely. Hermione and Draco looked around at the people bustling about, and it seemed that no one had noticed that a woman had been able to walk through a solid wall and vanish. They looked at each other in awe. Severus smirked.

"Draco, how about you go next?" Severus suggested. He gave the boy an encouraging nod when he noticed his slight worry as he said, "Just copy what your mother did. Aim your trolley directly between the signs for platforms nine and ten, and do not hesitate. I promise you won't crash."

Draco gave his godfather an anxious nod and a slightly worried look to his friend before he plucked up the courage to follow Severus' instructions. Taking a deep breath, he rushed at the wall, and like his mother, went through the brick and was gone. Hermione let out her breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, and heard her father ask, "Were you worried he wouldn't go through?"

"Yes," Hermione admitted. Looking up at her father, she asked, "It will let me go through, won't it?"

"Of course," he answered immediately. "You'll be fine, sweetheart. However, this is where I must leave you. Stay with Narcissa. You will also need this."

Severus reached into his trouser pocket and brought out a train ticket which he promptly handed to her. "This will allow you access onto the train. Do not lose that ticket. Goodbye for now, Cub. I love you, and I will see you at Hogwarts. Remember, you and Draco are to sit with Mimi at the High Table, unless you want to sit with another student. Also, remember what I told you about telling students about your relationship to Mimi. Now, please, behave yourself."

"I will," Hermione said a bit somber.

Severus' eyes softened slightly as he reminded her, "We will be together again soon. Enjoy your time on the train, and I hope you meet new friends. I love you, Hermione."

"I love you too, Daddy," she told him as she hugged him around the waist. He hugged her in return and kissed the top of her head.

"All right," he said after a bit, "we don't want to keep Narcissa and Draco waiting. You have ten minutes before the train pulls out. Please be on it. Be good. Now, just do as Narcissa and Draco did, and run at the wall between the signs, and do not hesitate. You can do it."

Hermione nodded and tried to harness some of his confidence. She wheeled her trolley around so that it was facing the wall, and with one last look at her father, she ran towards the wall. She tensed as she got closer, but found that rather than collide with solid brick, she passed through easily, and when she came out the other side, she was greeted with a wonderous sight.

There was a single train, painted scarlet, with a sign on the front that read _Hogwarts Express_. As far as she could see, there were parents and children saying goodbye. She passed many families looking for the Malfoys, and overheard various parents going through checklists of belongings that their children should have brought along, warning their children to behave, and children begging their parents to release them so that they could go meet up with their friends. Continuing to look around, she finally caught sight of Narcissa waving at her from the edge of the crowd.

When Hermione approached, Narcissa said to her with a smile, "Well, I am happy to see that you made it through! Now, did Severus give you your ticket for the train?"

Hermione nodded, taking the ticket out of her pocket to show her for additional proof. Narcissa nodded satisfied. Giving one last look to Draco, she told him, "Remember what I said, sweetheart. Listen to your godfather, listen to Minerva and the other professors, and keep out of trouble. You may hear some things that people say about our family, but do try to ignore them. Make a new name for yourself. Prove to them you are more than a name. It'll be all right."

Draco nodded looking a little downcast in Hermione's opinion. She wondered what their talk had been about, and what Narcissa had meant by people saying stuff about their family. Before Narcissa could say anything more, the train's whistle blew which must have meant something as it sent many children and families scattering. Narcissa embraced Draco again, and then, much to Hermione's surprise, she embraced her too. Narcissa winked at her as she said, "I hope you have a good year, Hermione. Be good and if you happen to need anything, you can always reach out to me too. All right?"

Hermione smiled. Her first impression of Narcissa hadn't been great, but lately she had been a lot warmer, and seemed like she had changed for the better. Hermione was beginning to really like her. Narcissa smiled back at her, and then said to them both, "It's time to board. Let's get your trunks packed on, and then you can find a compartment. Write to me, Draco, whenever you get a chance. Have a lovely school year!"

After pushing past the crowds, they were finally able to board the train, heaving their trunks behind them. Hermione led the way down the corridor with Draco following, finding an empty compartment, and quickly entering it before someone else could take it. She peered up at the luggage racks overhead, and together, she and Draco managed to hoist both of their trunks up onto the racks. Slightly out of breath, they searched out the window to see if they could see Narcissa, and then finally located her. Draco rushed to open the window as they heard the train's whistle blow again, and stuck his torso out to wave at his mother. Hermione remained inside the train, opting to wave from behind the glass. A moment later, she felt the train jerk, and slowly start moving. She watched sadly as parents, younger or older siblings, and other members of the family walked alongside the train, still waving goodbye, and shouting they loved whoever was on the train. Hermione wished her father and grandparents could have been there for her, but because they were professors, and they were worried people would find out that Severus was her real guardian, they couldn't come. She then started to wonder what it would have been like if her birth parents had loved her, and if they would have come to see her off. At the beginning of the summer, what she wouldn't have given for her parents to be like these parents here seeing their children to school. She had to stop herself from going down that road. That was the past, and she now had a better family than she could have ever imagined. Honestly it was the best, just complicated.

"I can't believe it," she heard Draco say somewhere in the distance as his statement brought her back to the present, "we are finally on our way to Hogwarts!"

She couldn't help but smile too as she observed his enthusiasm. Despite her lack of family present on the platform, she got to spend the entire school year with her family, unlike the other students. She decided to focus on that instead, and be happy and excited about their first year at Hogwarts. "Yes! I have a feeling it's going to be an adventure!"

They talked about what sort of fun they would have as they watched the scenery fly past their window.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Once Hermione had gone through the barrier, Severus had waited a couple of minutes, and then went through himself. Being a former spy, he was an expert at using his surroundings to blend in. Before most of the students had boarded, he used his current Muggle clothing to slip past undetected as no one recognized him or paid him much attention without his billowing robes. He snuck into one of the compartments reserved for the prefects and Head Boy and Girl, and then transfigured his clothing into his usual teaching robes. He got comfortable, anxiously awaiting the students' reactions when they saw him sitting there instead of the fun and happy Professor Sprout or the witty and charming Professor Flitwick. However, he had promised Hermione that he would try and be fair, but while she wasn't around to witness anything, he figured he could have a little fun at their expense. Yet, while the compartment was quiet, he thought about Hermione and Draco. He hoped they would be all right. He was interested to see who they would become friends with. While he knew most of his Slytherins were, in fact, good kids, he hoped Draco would branch out and talk to others as well. He also hoped that Draco would help Hermione making friends if she had trouble. He didn't think that she would since she had made friends with Draco on her own; however, this was a castle full of other children. He had never seen Hermione in a large group setting, and he hoped that she would cope well.

He heard the whistle blow its first warning, signaling for families to say their final goodbyes. He wished he could be like other parents, and be there to wish Hermione farewell from the platform. He wished that he could openly dote on her like the other fathers were doing now. Feelings of guilt were starting to creep in as he began to think about Lily not having the opportunity next year to see Harry off onto the train either. He closed his eyes briefly, shoving those thoughts away and behind the walls of his Occlumency. Now was not the time or the place for those feelings. Those feelings were only appropriate to dwell on down in the dungeons of Hogwarts.

He heard the second and last warning whistle, and he prayed that Narcissa had gotten both children on the train. A minute later he felt the jerk as the train started moving. He knew that at any moment, he would see the prefects and Heads making their way into the compartment. He straightened himself up and put on his best scowl. Some old habits were hard to break. He had said he would be fair, not smile and wave at them. He looked out the window, and saw that the train was picking up speed based on the swiftly passing scenery. Somewhere on this train, his daughter and godson were fending for themselves. Had they found a compartment to themselves? Had they had to sit with a couple other students? If so, who were they sitting with? Were they doing all right, or were they nervous? He hadn't told Hermione or Draco that he would be on the train as he didn't want them to seek him out and cling to him, but now he was wanting to check up on them. He knew that as soon as they saw him they would run to him, and if he was going to maintain boundaries with them around the student body, he couldn't be seen walking around. He was trapped within this compartment for the duration of the trip, unless something happened that demanded his attention and presence. If he was having this much difficulty on the train to school, how was he going to balance being a parent and teacher for the rest of the school year?

He heard rushed footsteps in the corridor, and looked up to see some of the prefects coming into his compartment, and some filing into the other compartments across the way since there were twenty-four prefects total and the Head Boy and Head Girl. The first student, a sixth year Ravenclaw prefect named Samuel Breckinridge, bounded into Severus' compartment, but immediately stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of the formidable Potion's Master which caused quite a pile up in the corridor with multiple exclamations, several questioning and complaining about what the holdup was.

Breckinridge gulped, his eyes wide as he stammered, "M-my apologies, Professor Snape. I-I didn't know you would be in the compartment, sir."

Severus arched his eyebrow as he drawled, "Yes, Ravenclaws seem to feel they are entitlement to know everything."

Breckinridge turned a light shade of pink as he quickly backed out of the compartment, shoving back his classmates as he mumbled haste apologies to Severus. Severus was amused to see that once Breckinridge had told his fellow prefects who was in the compartment, they all attempted to squeeze into the other compartments, even the Slytherins. However, when that didn't seem to work, some opted to go into other cars, and sit with their classmates. He knew that the prefects who had gone to sit in other cars would tell their fellow students the reason for their choice in seat when their friends questioned them. He also knew it wouldn't be long now that Hermione and Draco got word of his presence on the train.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The trolley of sweets had just left Hermione and Draco's compartment, Draco walking back in with an armful of goodies. He had been in utter disbelief when Hermione had told him that most of the sweets and pasties on the witch's trolley she had never tried, and so he had bought a sampling off everything. When Hermione asked where he had gotten the money for the trolley, Draco explained that his mother had given him some money before she had met up with them on the platform. She wished Severus had given her some money, but maybe he had just overlooked it. She was thrilled though when Draco had said he would share with her so that she could try the food she had, apparently, been "ruthlessly deprived of" all her life, in Draco's words.

She was savoring a chocolate frog after she had struggled to catch it, when she heard someone knocking on the compartment door. Together she and Draco looked up to see three red-headed boys standing outside their compartment. Sharing a brief look, Hermione quickly jumped up and opened the door, allowing the small group inside. She noticed two of the boys were identical, and the third appeared to be older as he puffed up his chest and said a bit too pompous for Hermione's taste, "Hello there, my name is Percy Weasley. These are my brothers, Fred and George. Would it be possible for us to sit with you for now? Everywhere else is full."

She looked back behind her at Draco to silently ask his permission as well when she noticed a peculiar look come over his face. Taking notice that she was staring at him for his approval too, he gave a short nod.

"Sure, come in!" she said happily. "My name is Hermione Granger, and this is my friend, Draco Malfoy."

The three newcomers stopped whatever they were doing and stared at Draco as the eldest boy, Percy, asked with a bit of disapproval, "Malfoy? I didn't think you were supposed to come Hogwarts until next year?"

Hermione looked from Percy to Draco in confusion as Draco answered stiffly, "I received permission to finish my primary schooling at Hogwarts, as did Hermione."

"Primary schooling?" Percy continued. "I've never heard of anyone finishing their primary schooling at Hogwarts. Did your father happen to have anything to do with that?"

Draco narrowed his eyes as he said defensively, "My father had nothing to do with it!"

"Draco and I got permission from Professor Dumbledore," Hermione stepped in before Draco and Percy got into an argument. "So, we aren't official students at Hogwarts."

"How on earth did you –" Percy started but didn't finish as another boy with red hair vigorously banged on the compartment door.

Either Fred or George opened the door, and the stranger rushed in, ignoring Hermione and Draco. He hurriedly told the others, "Have you heard who's on the train?"

"Who?" Fred and George asked in unison.

"Snape is on the train!" the newcomer announced. "The greasy git himself is riding in one of the prefects' compartments. He about gave Breckinridge a heart attack, he did!"

Draco and Hermione stared at each other wide eyed as Percy asked impatiently, "What's the big deal, Charlie? One of the professors always takes the train."

"Snape has never taken the train," the boy named Charlie explained. "It's always either Sprout or Flitwick. I wonder what made him ride it this year? I'm curious how Dumbledore pried that bat from his walls in the dungeons?"

Hermione was getting increasingly more offended by Charlie's words the more he talked about her father. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Draco was scowling too. Before either of them could come to his defense, the boy named Charlie said quickly, "Sorry, I've got to go. We have a prefects' meeting soon in one of the other compartments. Don't want to have it with Snape. See ya later, my brothers!" With a flourish, he was gone.

Percy looked at Fred and George, then at Hermione and Draco and said, "I'm going to go find my friends. It was nice to meet you Hermione and Draco. See you around at school." Then he too vanished down the corridor. However, Fred and George remained, both surveying Hermione and Draco. Without knowing who was who, one of the started, "So, how did you both –"

"Actually convince –"

"Dumbledore to let you –"

"Come to school early?"

When both the younger children remained silent looking between the two, the twins started again, "Don't worry –"

"Neither Gred –"

"Or Feorge –"

"Will bite you –"

"Too badly, that is!"

Draco blinked. "Do you two always do this?"

"Not usually –"

"We usually do it to new people –"

"So that we can show off –"

"Our amazing –"

"Twin skills!"

"Drives our family –"

"Absolutely mental!"

"I could see that," Draco mumbled mostly to himself.

"So, who is who?" Hermione asked. "How do people tell you apart?"

"Well, I'm actually Fred," one of the twins stated, holding out his hand to shake both of theirs. "I'm the more handsome one. We are quite difficult to tell apart, which is why we have so much fun tormenting people!"

"I'm George," the other twin introduced himself, copying the actions of his brother and shaking both of their hands. "I'm actually the most handsome. Even our family has a hard time telling us apart! The only one who seems to know who is who all the time is our younger brother, Ron. He'll be coming to Hogwarts next year."

"How many siblings do you have?" Draco asked.

"In order, there's Bill, Charlie, who was just here, Percy, me and George, Ron, and our only sister and the youngest, Ginny," Fred explained. "We are quite the lot."

"Also," George said looking at Draco, "don't mind our prat-of-a-brother, Percy. He thinks he knows everything, and he's trying really hard to become a prefect next year. Wants Mum and Dad to be proud of him, or some rubbish like that."

Hermione was pleased to see that Draco smiled a bit at George. Hopefully she and Draco could get along with Fred and George, and not have to bother with Percy. She did really like them, she thought they were fun. Before she could say anything more, Draco stated, "We got sweets earlier since Hermione's never tried most of them. Would you both like some?"

Fred and George's faces lit up as they helped themselves to chocolate frogs and fizzing whizzbees. Then the twins got mischievous looks on their faces as Fred asked Hermione, "So, a lot of these things you've never tried before?"

"Nope," she answered.

"Even Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Fred clarified.

"Never had them," Hermione confirmed.

Fred looked at George then at Draco as he reached for one of the boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and said, "Here, have some jelly beans, Granger. Try this flavor."

He handed her a grey bean with black speckles. She took it curiously then popped it into her mouth and chewed. Immediately, she started coughing as she asked, "What was that? It's horrible!"

"That was a Black Pepper flavored bean," Fred answered. "Bertie Bott's has all different flavors, hence their name. I dare you to try this one!"

Daring each other to try different flavors, they were able to kill an hour of the trip laughing at each other and having a wonderful time.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A while later after the beans and most of the sweets had been consumed, George asked Hermione and Draco, "So, neither of you ever did answer our question about how you got permission to attend Hogwarts early."

Neither of them said anything as they carefully thought about their answer. This is what her father had meant when he had said to be careful about who she told as it would spread through the castle quickly. However, she and Draco had been having a great time with Fred and George, and they seemed to be nice. She felt she could trust them and she hoped Draco felt the same way. Giving him one last look, and when he nodded at her unasked question, she knew he felt the same way towards the twins as she did.

"You promise not to tell anyone?" Hermione began. "We're already going to be talked about because we're finishing our primary schooling at Hogwarts. This needs to be kept between us."

Fred and George shared a frown before they eventually nodded their agreement to keep their secret. Hermione leaned forward and said, "I was able to get permission to come to Hogwarts early because my guardian is Professor McGonagall."

The twins' eyes grew large as they let the information sink in. Finally, Fred asked shocked, "Your guardian is Professor McG?"

"Yes," Hermione confirmed.

Fred and George looked at each other again, an identical grin growing on their faces as they both said in unison, "That's brilliant!"

"You think so?" Hermione asked a little bewildered.

"Yes!" said George. "She's a tough person, but she has always been nice and fair to us, even when we go a bit far with our pranks at school. We secretly think she enjoys them when she's not the target. Is she like a professor at home too? Does she make you call her professor?"

Hermione laughed as she said, "No, she doesn't make me call her professor. I haven't seen her as a professor yet, so I'm not sure how she's different. Anyway, since Draco and I are friends, she spoke to Professor Dumbledore, and he also got permission to come with me, so I wouldn't be alone."

"How did you two become friends?" Fred asked. "We know some about your family, Draco, and I know this will sound mean, but to us it wouldn't seem that Professor McG and your family would be, well, friends."

Draco nodded glumly. "You're right. They weren't at first. My mother was the one who wanted me to come to Hogwarts as well, so when Professor Dumbledore asked her, she said that I could come. Hermione and I became friends when my godfather, who is a friend of Professor McGonagall's, introduced us."

"Cool!" George stated. "Who's your godfather?"

Draco paused. He had heard how Charlie had described his godfather, and he knew Hermione had heard as well. It would have been hard not to hear. He wasn't sure if the twins would have the same reaction as their brother had. He decided to trust them, and go with it. "My godfather is Professor Snape."

There was a long silence in the compartment as that information washed over the twins. Hermione looked as anxious as he must have looked as he waited for the twins' reactions. After a few seconds, Fred whistled as George mumbled, "Bloody hell."

"He's really not that bad of a person," Hermione insisted. She didn't know if her father would appreciate her saying this to his students, but she felt the need to defend him.

"I'll believe that –"

"When I see it."

If her father kept his promise to her, then they would see it soon. She was sad that students didn't really know her father. They had no idea how great he was. She had a feeling that she was going to be defending him a lot this year, and for years to come unless something significant happened that changed peoples' minds about him.

Desperately she asked, "Promise you won't tell anyone? About either Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape?"

"Trust us, Hermione," George said. "This information is best kept hidden."

"Does that mean you'll be staying with them throughout the year?" Fred asked. "Since you won't have a House? Will you have to sit at the Head Table all year?"

"Yes," Hermione answered. "I was told that Draco and I should sit up at the table tonight unless we want to sit with someone else. If someone invited us to sit with them at their House table, then we can do that."

Looking at Draco, Fred asked somewhat tentatively, "Will your godfather allow you to sit with students from Gryffindor. Or rather, being from the Malfoy family, do you want to sit with people from Gryffindor?"

"Are you inviting us to sit with you tonight?" Draco asked slightly shocked. He had always been brought up to think that Gryffindor students were more brawn than brain, and that Gryffindors, while supposedly chivalrous, were mostly being that way to boost their own image and because they were foolish. Draco thought that Fred and George had been genuine with them the entire train ride, and he had enjoyed spending time with them. He hadn't ever seen Hermione as relaxed as she was around them, and she even laughed more than he had ever heard her. He too had laughed more than usual, and he was feeling happy as well. The more he thought about his and Hermione's time with the twins, he did hope that Fred, a Weasley to boot, was inviting them to sit at Gryffindor table.

"Well, ya," George chimed in, "that is, if you want to."

"Yes!" Hermione and Draco said eagerly at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled. Fred and George were smiling too.

"It will also save you from having people staring at you, and wondering why you're sitting up there with the professors, especially if you don't want people knowing that they're your guardian and godfather," Fred explained. "Besides, we'll introduce you to the whole of Gryffindor house, plus some of our other friends in other houses. However, we're on speaking terms with only one Slytherin. If you want to know more of Slytherin house, you'll have to meet them through her."

"Sounds brilliant," Hermione said. She wanted to know people from other houses. She wanted this time at school to be a blank slate for her. A chance for her to reinvent herself. So, she was prepared to try things that she otherwise wouldn't have felt comfortable doing. With Fred and George helping her, she felt that she could accomplish her goal.

"Great!" George exclaimed. "Besides, Fred and I will teach you both all that Hogwarts has to offer. You may have family on the staff, but I doubt they'll share with you what we know about the castle. Stick with us, and we'll teach you everything we know!"

Hermione and Draco couldn't help but grin like fools as Fred and George told them about all the hidden passages throughout the castle, the tunnels that led outside of the school, and all their other wonderful bits of knowledge. This year was going to be better than either of them imagined.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The hours were passing ever so slowly for Severus. He was starting to get cabin fever. He knew they were getting closer as the sun was beginning to set. The train didn't get to Hogwarts until dinner time. He was seeing familiar landmarks from when he had been a student riding the train to and from school, and his thoughts drifted to Lily. He had been thinking about her on and off the entire trip, and after a while he couldn't stop the thoughts. He had put a spell on the glass so that the students couldn't see into his compartment, and he had locked the door. He figured that if there was an emergency, someone would come get him and knock on the door. However, he didn't want people looking in on him like a goldfish when he was thinking about Lily.

This train used to bring him so much joy and so much heartache. This was when he would meet up with Lily again after a long summer with his abusive father, and this is when he would say goodbye to her and have to endure that long summer with his parents always fighting, his mother always crying, and his father always drinking. When he had taken Hermione in, he had vowed that her childhood would not be that way. He would be a better father to her than his father had been to him.

Now he was on this train again and separated from his daughter and godson. He wanted to check up on them, and make sure they were all right. This was torture for him, and he wondered if they had heard yet that he was on the train.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Do you think we should go see Severus?" Draco asked Hermione quietly.

They were alone in the compartment now; Fred and George had decided to leave to spend time with their other friends before they got to Hogwarts. They had promised to return when they were close to the castle so that Draco and Hermione would have ample time to change into their school robes. They had been sad to see the twins go, but this gave them time to talk.

"I don't know where the prefects' compartments are," Hermione answered, "or else I wouldn't mind going to see him."

"Ya," said Draco sadly, "I don't know whether they're located in the front or back of the train, or if we would even be allowed to go near those compartments."

"Well," said Hermione, remembering her goal of wanting to reinvent herself, "how about we go exploring and find out?"

Draco blinked at her for a second, and said with a smile, "All right. Let's see if we can find Uncle Severus." Then faltering a bit, he added, "You don't think he'll be mad at us for visiting him, do you? Maybe he didn't want us to know he was on the train because he didn't want us to bother him, and that's why he didn't mention that he was coming on the trip?"

That thought made Hermione falter too. Maybe he didn't want them to see him. Maybe this was part of the boundaries rule? Perhaps her Granddad had insisted that her father ride the train to keep an eye on them, but not talk to them. At those thoughts, the gusto was knocked out of her. Sighing and sitting back down in her seat she replied glumly, "Well, then maybe it's best that we don't visit him. Maybe we should just wait until after the Welcome Feast to talk to him when we're in his quarters or Minerva's quarters?"

Draco nodded his head sadly as he too dropped back down into his seat. They both sat in silence, watching the fading sunlight take with it the glorious view of the massive mountains, lovely green, rolling hills, bright blue lochs, and farms. They wished Fred and George would return soon, and tell them that they were close to Hogwarts. They missed their family.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It seemed like ages later that Fred and George bounded back into their compartment, telling them that it was time to get their robes on. They helped Hermione and Draco lower their trunks down from the racks so that they could access their robes. Fred told Hermione where the girl's toilets were so that she could change there while they took Draco with them to the boy's toilets to change. They met up about twenty minutes later back at the compartment, Hermione explaining what a nightmare it had been fighting all those girls for a stall to change in.

"We thought you'd either gone down the loo or jumped the train," explained Fred as he adjusted his red and gold tie. "We're pretty close to Hogwarts now. Now, when we get off, I know you two aren't technically first year students, but Hagrid will be calling for the first years –"

"Hagrid will be here?" Hermione asked excitedly. She hadn't seen Hagrid since her first trip to Diagon Alley with her father, and she was eager to see him again.

"Ya," Fred answered, "you know him? Well, I suppose it makes sense that you do. I imagine you've met most of the staff and teachers?"

"No, actually," Draco answered this time. "They were pretty secretive about Hogwarts with us. They didn't take us there at all over the summer. I haven't met anyone other than Professor McGonagall."

"I met Hagrid in Diagon Alley," Hermione replied simply at George's raised eyebrow. She didn't want to go into that whole story.

George nodded, accepting her explanation, and picking up Fred's instructions from earlier, "So, when Hagrid calls the first years, go with them. He'll be responsible for getting you to the castle."

"How are we getting there?" Draco asked. "I thought we would already be there having traveled by train all day."

"That would be telling, wouldn't it?" the twins said together.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other and shrugged. They would find out soon enough. Suddenly they felt the train jerk as it slowed its momentum, indicating that they were approaching their destination. Hermione was starting to have butterflies. It had been all great up until now, and now that she was here, she was nervous about her new school. She hoped it wouldn't be a repeat of her Muggle schooling experience. She had to close her eyes and take a few deep breaths as the train continued to slow.

"What about our trunks?" she heard Draco ask.

"Leave them," Fred answered. "They'll be brought up to the castle later. I'm assuming Professor McGonagall has already informed the elves where your trunks will be going."

With a last final clacking sound, the train finally came to a stop and blew its whistle. They saw the prefects moving down the corridors as they jumped off the train first, holding the doors of the train open so that the other students could get off.

"All right," George prompted, "let's get off this bloody train, and get some of the best food you will ever eat in your life! Our Mum is a good cook, but nothing compares to a Hogwarts' feast!"

Draco smiled at the mention of food, but the idea of food, for once, made Hermione ill. The butterflies in her tummy were so crazy that she felt that if she ate anything it would come back up. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Fred smiling warmly at her as he said, "I know it's scary. It was easier for me since I was an actual first year when I came, my brothers were already here, and I had George by my side always. You have McG who will take good care of you, and with her probably the entire teaching staff! Plus, you have Draco, me, and George. You'll have other friends too before you know it. C'mon, you'll be fine."

She smiled gratefully at him as he led her out of the compartment and into the crowded corridor, the throng of students waiting their turn to get off the train. As she got closer to one of the exits, she heard a booming voice calling, "Firs' years over 'ere! Firs' years follow me!"

Once she, Draco, Fred, and George were on the platform, the twins bid goodbye to them, quickly and loudly reminding them to sit with them once they were in the Great Hall as they rushed off in another direction. Taking another deep breath, she turned towards Hagrid's voice and walked towards him, Draco by her side. Hermione walked straight up to the half-giant, Draco opting to hang back a few steps as she said politely, "Hello again, Hagrid!"

"Hello there, 'Ermione!" Hagrid said happily. "Professor McGonagall said you and Draco Malfoy would be arriving this year, and tha' I was ter look after you two especially! Where's Draco?"

"He's here," Hermione told him, looking behind her to where Draco was standing uncertainly, beckoning for him to come stand next to her. Hesitantly, Draco obliged, slowly walking up to Hagrid trying to take in his vast presence. "Draco Malfoy, this is Hagrid. Hagrid, this is Draco Malfoy."

"Pleasure ter meet ya, Draco," Hagrid said politely, gently shaking Draco's outstretched and shaking hand.

"You too, sir," Draco said, quieter than he had intended.

"No need to be scared o' ole me," Hagrid said, trying to ease the boy's nerves. "I haven't eaten a student since the sixties!"

Draco's eyes grew wide at Hagrid's attempt at humor. Hermione giggled and said exasperated, "Oh, honestly, Draco, he's joking!"

Draco gave her a look as if to say it may not be a joke, but smiled up at Hagrid nonetheless. Hagrid winked at him. "You'll like me soon enough, Draco."

Draco nodded as Hagrid called out loudly again, "Firs' years over 'ere! Firs' years follow me!"

Steadily, a group of students gathered around Hagrid, all of them looking up at him with unsure expressions as Draco had. Hermione shook her head. How quick people were to judge a person by his outer appearance. She knew how hurtful it was to be judged. It hurt a lot. She looked up again when she heard Hagrid say, "All righ' ya lot. This way!"

In a group, they took off after him as he led them down a footpath, each of them having to jog to keep up with him. By the end of the trail, they were all panting and looking around rather confused. They were at the edge of what looked to be a loch. Hermione heard one boy say smartly, "Are we supposed to _swim_ there?"

"With tha' attitude, ya migh'!" Hagrid said, addressing his threat to the overall group. "We are takin' the boats. Four to a boat please, and one of ya take a lantern. The boats will steer themselves!"

Hermione and Draco climbed into a boat with two other boys, Draco offering to hold a lantern. They watched as Hagrid got into a boat by himself, and everyone was watching to see if the boat would float. Miraculously it did, and as soon as Hagrid's boat took off, apparently of its own accord, the rest of the boats followed. For a while, they could only see more of the lake ahead of them, and trees on either side of them. Hermione thought this was perhaps the creepiest thing she had ever done when suddenly in front of them the castle appeared. Hermione and Draco, along with the other students, "oohed" and "aahed" at the magnificent and majestic castle looming in front of them. It was perched on a hill, rising above everything else around it, the mountains themselves seemingly dwarfed by the towering structure. It was so massive that Hermione was surprised the hillside could hold it, much like she was surprised that Hagrid's little boat could keep him afloat. It seemed that there were hundreds of tiny lights all over the castle, and outside lights seemed to illuminate the many towers of the school. Its reflection shown clear in the lake, and with the stars and moon shining down on it, Hogwarts was simply breathtaking. Draco's mouth was hanging open slightly as he too took in the sight of Hogwarts castle. As she admired her home away from home, her butterflies seemed to quiet down a little. She couldn't deny that she was grateful for that.

The boats slowly drifted to what looked to be a boathouse, and one by one, the boats docked allowing Hagrid out first so that he could assist the students with getting out of their boats. He took their lanterns from them, and when everyone was gathered around him again, Hagrid instructed, "Righ', if you go up these steps, they will take ya ter the front doors of the castle. One o' the professors will be waiting to collect ya there. Good luck with yer Sortin' firs' years!"

All the students mumbled as they took in the sight of the never-ending stairs. With a huff, the students began their ascent, some counting how many steps there were, and others simply wishing they would end soon. After what seemed like a lifetime, and the best work out of Hermione's life, they all finally managed to make it to the top of the stairs, and were greeted by two heavy, solid wooden doors adorned with an intricate metal design along with metal door handles, and metal locks. However, when they arrived, there was no professor waiting to greet them. After a while, some of the students started wondering if they had taken a wrong turn somewhere, or they had been forgotten. Draco leaned over to Hermione and whispered, "Some of these kids aren't very bright. I mean, how could we have taken a wrong turn on a staircase where there was no option to turn? And no one would have forgotten us, they have first year students come every year!"

Hermione was about to respond when both doors slowly opened inward, revealing a stunning entrance hall, and standing waiting for them was Professor McGonagall. Hermione had to fight back a smile when she saw her Mimi; however, the older woman didn't seem to be having that same issue as she stiffly beckoned them to come inside, avoiding eye contact with either Hermione or Draco. Immediately, the students obeyed, and once everyone was inside and gathered in front of the formidable professor, the doors slowly closed behind them. Once the doors were shut, Professor McGonagall stared at them as she waited for complete silence. She needn't wait long, all eyes and ears were already on her.

In her full Scottish lilt, she greeted, "Welcome to Hogwarts!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season! No long announcements this time other than to say that I appreciate everyone who has read, commented, liked, and favorited this new story! Thank you! Also, I apologize to those of you who are true poets because I'm positive that mine is lacking. I love poetry, but it's never been my strength. Happy reading and a Happy New Year!**

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"My name is Professor McGonagall. In a moment, you will enter through these doors and join the other students," Minerva stated, "but first you must be sorted into one of the four houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Whatever house you are chosen for will be like your family for the duration of your school career. During the year, you will have many opportunities to earn or lose house points, and at the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the House Cup. Model behaviors will earn you points while any rule breaking will lose you points. Professors can give or take points; however, the Head Boy and Girl, along with prefects can only take points from their own houses. After you are sorted, you will sit with your house at their house table, and the prefects will later escort you to your new common room and dormitories."

The students buzzed with hushed chatter, the excitement of being sorted into one of the houses becoming the subject of their impatience. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat for silence. "You all will wait here until we are ready for you. Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy, please follow me."

Without looking at the other children, Hermione could almost feel their eyes bugging out at her and Draco, their silent questions seeming to shout at her, demanding to know what they could have possibly done already to get called out by the stern professor. She and Draco wordlessly followed Minerva to another set of doors off the entrance hall, and she whispered to them, "Have you found others to sit with?"

"Yes," Hermione whispered back, "Fred and George Weasley."

She immediately noticed that her Mimi arched her eyebrow at the mention of the twins, and tried to conceal a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth as she said, "Very well. They are sitting at the table immediately to your right. Find them quickly, and have a seat before I lead the first-years in. Have a good dinner you two, and I will fetch you afterwards, so please don't leave with a prefect."

They both nodded, and she opened the doors just enough for them to squeeze through. They had to remember to keep moving as they gazed open-mouthed at the room they had just entered, trying to focus on the room itself, and not the hundreds of pairs of eyes that were staring at them. It was a beautiful Great Hall, made of large, grey stone with torches and numerous floor-to-ceiling windows lining the walls. Looking around they noticed flickering candles floating above them, and as they looked up past the candles, they saw that the ceiling seemed to reflect the sky outside. Hermione smiled as she noticed a shooting star streak across the inky blackness. In front of her, she saw a long, wooden table at the top of the room, the wall behind the table made of nothing but glass, and she saw her grandfather sitting regally in the center surrounded by his staff; the seat to his right was vacant and her father was to his left. She saw her Granddad wink at her, and as soon as she made eye contact with her father, she felt her muscles relax, unaware that they had ever been tense at all. She shot them a quick smile, but immediately dropped her smile as she remembered they weren't supposed to know each other, and they weren't to show favoritism towards her or Draco.

She glanced to her right, and saw Fred and George beckoning them over to where they had saved them a seat at one of the student tables, and she and Draco quickly made their way over to join them. No sooner had they taken their seats than the doors to the Great Hall opened wide, and in marched Minerva with a scroll in her hand, the timid first-years quickly following her while also trying to absorb the wonders of the enchanted room. Hermione and Draco watched in silent fascination as they wondered how the first-years were going to be sorted into the houses, making mental notes for next year in case it was some sort of test. They had noticed a solitary stool sitting in the middle of the raised platform in front of the Head Table, and Hermione puzzled over its reason for being there.

She refocused her attention when she heard her Mimi explain to the terrified students, "When I call your name, please sit on the stool, and I shall place the Sorting Hat upon your head."

With a wave of her wand, a raggedy, pointed hat appeared on the stool. Everyone stared at it in silence for a moment before a rip opened above its brim like a mouth, and to Hermione's amazement, the hat began to sing a rhyme.

"Welcome all you first-years, as timid as a rat,

But don't you be afraid of me for I'm the Sorting Hat!

I'll tell you all where you belong, I'll sort you out and more,

For that was the task given to me by good, old Gryffindor!

And speaking of the wizard who gave a house his name,

Let me tell you of the other three who all did just the same.

If you are in Gryffindor where dwell the brave at heart,

Your chivalry and daring will set you all apart.

Or you may be in Ravenclaw, who valued smarts and wit,

If you love to learn and create this is where you'll fit.

You could also be in Hufflepuff those loyal people are true,

If you value work, patience, and justice, this house is just for you.

Then you may be in Slytherin where ambitious folks belong,

This cunning and resourceful house will never steer you wrong.

Well, this has been my song this year, to welcome you all in,

So, let's get the school year underway, and let the Sorting now begin!"

The students and professors applauded when the hat was done, and she saw her grandmother step forward and call out the first name, "Beckett, Amelia!"

They all watched as a nervous girl stepped up, looking around at the others in her group for support as she slowly walked towards the stool. Minerva patiently held the hat up so that she could place it on the girl's head once she was seated. When Amelia Beckett had sat down, Minerva swiftly placed the hat on her head, and instantly the other students in the hall heard a low mumble coming from the hat. It almost sounded to Hermione as though the hat was speaking to the girl as Amelia would sometimes respond. After a minute, the hat shouted for everyone in the hall to hear, "RAVENCLAW!"

The house to the right of the Gryffindor table exploded in cheers as Amelia happily bounded off the stool, Minerva quickly removing the Sorting Hat from the girl's head before she could take off with it. Hermione watched as older students stood up and shook Amelia's hand, gently clapping her on the back as she sat down, relief clearly written on her face. All the professors were politely clapping as well.

"Collins, Adam!"

Now that the others in the first-year group had seen what the sorting process entailed, the next student walked a little more confidently towards the stool. Once he was seated, Minerva repeated the process of placing the hat upon his head, the hat whispered to him, and then a few seconds later shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

The table to the far left of the hall exploded into cheers this time, and the boy named Adam was smiling as he joined his new house.

One by one Minerva named off the rest of the students, the mentioned house cheering their new housemate on as he or she joined them at the table. There appeared to be an even number of students per house, with each house gaining ten new students. Once Minerva had named off the last student, who had been sorted into Hufflepuff, she waved her wand again causing the old hat and the stool to disappear, and rolled up the scroll she had been reading from. She briskly walked around to her seat at the Head Table, and when she had taken her place, Albus came around to the front where the Sorting Hat had been, to begin reading announcements from behind his podium. When he spoke, he sounded as though every other word caused him to exert a great amount of energy which made many of the students look at each other in confusion and concern.

"Welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts! My announcements are short this year. First off, I wish to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students. Secondly, Mr. Filch has added to his list of items that are banished from the castle. For an updated list, you can see it hanging on his office door, and running a bit on the floor along the corridor."

There were quite a few chuckles in the Hall at the caretaker's expense. Everyone knew – except for the first-years and Hermione and Draco – how ridiculous Mr. Filch's list was. Before long, the crazy caretaker would be telling the students that _they_ were no longer allowed in the castle. Albus chuckled slightly himself before he continued his announcements.

"Thirdly, I would also like to announce that for the first time in Hogwarts' history, we have two students who are finishing their last year of primary school here. I hope that the older students will be welcoming to them, and that you all serve as wonderful role models for them. You will occasionally see them one-on-one with the professors as they conduct their studies."

There were more whispers around the Hall as the students talked and wondered who these two kids were. As he heard the whispers ringing through the Hall, Severus became more concerned that this may not have been a good idea.

"Lastly, I want to wish everyone a wonderful, new school year. Since tomorrow is Sunday, your classes will not begin until Monday. This gives the new students time to find their classrooms, and explore around the castle and grounds. However, please keep in mind where you are allowed and not allowed. Every night, even on the weekends, curfew is at ten o'clock for those of you who are not prefects, and professors will be patrolling the corridors as well. Now, I will stop delaying this wonderful feast, so let the feast begin!"

At the Headmaster's words, food suddenly appeared on the table. Hermione's and Draco's mouths were hanging open as they took in the vast array of food. There was chicken, pork, and beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, asparagus, peas, carrots, brussels sprouts, shepherd's pie, rolls, and many desserts from everything chocolate, to pastries filled with jams, to fruit pies, biscuits, and cakes of all kinds. Hermione had never seen so much food. She watched as everyone around her filled their plates without hesitation, and she shot a brief glance up at her father who was watching her. He gave her a stern look and a slight nod, and she slowly filled her plate.

"This is the best food I've ever eaten!" Draco exclaimed after he had swallowed his third bite.

"Told you, mate," Fred reminded Draco in-between bites. "The feasts at Hogwarts are amazing! Nothing compares to them. Rumor has it that the recipes for the food here at school are Helga Hufflepuff's. That's also why the Hufflepuff common room is near the kitchens."

Draco seemed to ignore that fun fact, opting to shove more of the delicious food in his mouth. Hermione stored that tidbit away finding it rather interesting. As she slowly savored her food, George leaned in towards Hermione and Draco and asked, "We are keeping your secret, can you keep one of ours?"

Draco and Hermione shared a glance before nodding, their serious expressions mimicking George's. George nudged Fred and asked him, "Should I tell them what souvenir we plan to send our younger siblings?"

Fred regarded the two of them before he approved, "This will be their first test to see if they are worthy of the better revelations we have in store for them."

George nodded his agreement before he confided, "We plan to send our young family members a toilet seat from the prefect's loo. So, if anyone questions you about a vandalized toilet, you know nothing, got it?"

Hermione shook her head giggling while Draco laughed loudly.

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Albus, Minerva, and Severus looked toward the Gryffindor table when they heard Draco laughing. Minerva smirked as she asked across Albus, "So, Severus, what do you think of Hermione and Draco making friends with the Weasley twins?"

"I think I'm starting to regret not having those two sit with me on the train," Severus answered, glaring at Minerva when she snorted from laughter.

"Come now, Severus," Albus said, "the twins are good kids. They just like to have fun."

"Their fun includes breaking numerous school rules," Severus countered. "I don't want Hermione and Draco thinking they can break rules just for a few laughs."

"The twins are well liked," Minerva said in the twins' defense. "They will be able to introduce the children to other kids in other houses. I believe they even have someone they are amicable with in Slytherin. Isn't this what you wanted? For Draco and Hermione to expand their horizons, and meet new people?"

"Thank you for that reminder, Minerva," drawled Severus as he sipped his pumpkin juice. Yes, he did want them to meet students who would be good influences on them. He would never have selected the Weasley twins for that though. He knew that the twins only wanted to make people laugh, and they had never hurt anyone with their pranks. They were well liked among the student body, even Peeves bonded with them. He sighed aloud as he supposed that his children could have made friends with worse students. However, he knew that the twins would fill Hermione's and Draco's heads with mischief, and that mischief may be the death of him.

"I wouldn't worry too much, my boy," Albus said softly to him. "They will be fine. You may find that the twins aren't as bad as you think they are. Remember that Hermione is a very good judge of character."

Severus nodded as he watched the twins entertain his kids. He hadn't seen them this happy and relaxed since the last time they were on brooms. If those boys could make his children that happy, then maybe they weren't that bad. But he would never admit that to anyone.

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A little over an hour later, with bellies full and some of the students yawning and stretching, Albus stood and announced to the hall, "I believe it is time for everyone to return to their dormitories for a good night's rest after a long day of travel. Off you go!"

There was a great amount of scraping and scuffing as the students rose from the tables, prefects calling for the first-year students to follow them. As the twins rose to leave, noticing that Hermione and Draco had remained seated, George asked, "So, you said you both were staying with your guardians?"

"Yes," Hermione confirmed. "Professor McGonagall is going to fetch us when everyone leaves."

"We'll stay with you till she comes then," Fred said as he and his brother remained standing beside them. "It also gives us a chance to say hello to her."

Hermione smiled at them as Fred added, "Also, would you two like us to show you around tomorrow?"

"Yes!" both she and Draco exclaimed at the same time.

"We'll meet you after lunch then," George decided. "You can sit with us whenever you like. I don't know how often you have to sit with your family, but when you want to sit with us, you are always welcome to."

"Thanks, George," Hermione said. She smiled broadly when he looked at her in astonishment.

"How did you know that I'm George?" he asked in awe.

She shrugged. "I'm just noticing your subtle differences."

The twins nodded at her impressed as they saw Minerva coming up the center aisle to retrieve Hermione and Draco. Minerva offered the twins a slight smile as she acknowledged, "Hello boys. How was your summer holiday?"

"Hi Professor, McG!" Fred and George exclaimed together.

"It was good, but apparently not as exciting as yours," Fred told her, glancing over at Hermione.

"Congrats on becoming a Mum," George gushed impishly.

"She's a beautiful, bouncing, baby girl!" Fred ribbed both his professor and Hermione. Hermione turned a slight shade of pink.

"Och, be off with you two!" Minerva snipped good natured, shaking her head at their antics. Then more quietly she told them sincerely, "Thank you for looking after them tonight. I do appreciate you two."

"We appreciate you too, Professor McG," they said together. "Just remember that you said you appreciate us as we go through the year!"

"I said I appreciate you," Minerva warned, "I didn't say I always approve of your choices."

"She does like us!" Fred choked, acting like he was going to cry.

"She really does like us!" George cried, dabbing at the corner of his eyes with his sleeve, and waving his hand at his face like he had seen his mother do when she was on the verge of tears.

Minerva, Hermione, and Draco chuckled as Minerva tutted, "Be off with you! We will see you tomorrow. Have a good evening, boys!"

"Goodnight, Professor McG!" they said sweetly, waving at her as they walked away. "Goodnight Hermione! Goodnight Draco!"

"Good night!" Hermione and Draco said together, waving back at them.

"All right, you two," Minerva said, winking at them, "come with me."

She briskly led the way out of the Great Hall, Hermione and Draco having to jog to keep up with her long strides. As they exited the Great Hall, they turned left, and stood at the bottom of a large staircase. As they looked up the center of the seemingly never-ending stairwell, they noticed that there were segments of the staircase moving back and forth between multiple landings. Minerva chuckled at their expressions and said knowingly, "You'll get used to it, and by the end of your schooling will be able to expertly navigate these stairs."

Hermione and Draco stared at her in mild disbelief as she smirked at them, and then started climbing the stairs. Hermione and Draco quickly followed behind her, not wishing to be separated by a staircase that decided to move elsewhere. They were careful to stay with her as she led them up five flights of stairs, one they had to ride to another landing. She opened one of the fifth floor landing doors, leading them down a dark corridor that was only lit by torchlight. At the end of this corridor was a statue of a Griffin, that looked to be made of stone. Minerva walked right up to it and said in a firm voice, "Rocky road."

At first nothing happened, then suddenly the statue began to rise, revealing a spiraling staircase that was emerging from the floor beneath the Griffin. Minerva stepped up on one of the steps, riding it like an escalator, and Hermione and Draco jumped onto the steps below her. It eventually stopped, and they had to climb the remaining steps. When they reached the top of the landing, there was a large, heavy wooden door on which Minerva knocked. Seconds later they heard someone say, "Enter!" and without hesitation, Minerva pushed the door open.

Minerva quickly walked into the office, but Hermione and Draco walked in slowly, taking in all the funny features of the room. It was a circular room that seemed very inviting with the fire glowing brightly. It had funny little trinkets and knick-knacks sitting on spindle-leg tables, making noises and emitting puffs of smoke. Hanging on the walls were many portraits of men and women, all seeming to be gently snoozing. Hermione noted that these portraits too were moving much like the portrait of the woman who was in the library back at Prince Manor.

Hermione looked ahead and saw her grandfather sitting behind a claw-footed desk with a high-backed chair. Behind his desk and on the walls around the office were numerous bookshelves, holding many, many books, and sitting on one of the shelves behind her Granddad's desk was the old Sorting Hat. However, the last thing that Hermione noted was that there was a large bird perch next to his desk, and using the perch was a magnificent reddish, golden bird, chirping softly and keeping an eye on the children who had entered the office. The large bird completely mesmerized her, and she knew that Draco was staring at it as well as she heard him whisper, "Whoa, that's a cool bird!"

"This is Fawkes," Albus said with a small chuckle when he saw what the children were staring at. "Fawkes is my familiar. He is a phoenix."

Hermione smiled at her Granddad, but Draco seemed to shrink back when the Headmaster spoke to them. Albus beckoned them forward, and Hermione bounded up to his desk, Draco cautiously approaching. When Draco was finally standing beside Hermione, Albus said kindly, "It is nice to meet you, Draco. I am Albus Dumbledore."

"H-hello, sir," Draco stumbled slightly, making sporadic eye contact with the old wizard.

Albus chuckled again as he said, hoping to appease Draco's fears, "You needn't be nervous around me, my boy, I don't bite. Severus will be here momentarily, and in the meantime, I wanted to introduce myself to you."

Draco gave the Headmaster a small smile. After a moment of awkward silence, Fawkes cooed, flying down from his perch onto the edge of Albus' desk. He stared at Draco, chirping and trilling before he gently nudged Draco's hand, wanting the boy to show him some attention. Draco happily petted the soft feathers on top of Fawkes' head, the phoenix trilling happily. Hermione could tell that Draco was thrilled that the beautiful bird had taken a liking to him.

"Fawkes certainly seems to like you," Albus smiled as he watched the bird do the same thing to Hermione, his eyes closing in contentment as Hermione took her turn petting him. "You as well, Hermione." Hermione beamed.

At that moment, the door to the Headmaster's office opened again, and Severus strode in. He smirked at the children as he drawled, "I see you have both met Fawkes."

"Ya, he's really cool," said Draco happily as he gently rubbed Fawkes' wing. "Professor Dumbledore was nice enough to let us pet him."

"Fawkes initiated contact," Albus amended Draco's statement. "He appears to be very fond of the children."

"Fawkes is a wonderful ally to have," Severus commended, pleased that the phoenix had recognized that Hermione was loyal to Albus, and pleasantly surprised that the bird had recognized that trait in Draco too. "Well, say goodnight to Fawkes, Draco. It's time for bed. You will have a room in my quarters in the dungeons, and Hermione will have a room with Minerva in her quarters on the first floor."

Hermione and Draco frowned at being separated. Noticing the children's expressions, Minerva said warmly, "No sad faces. There will be a secret corridor between our quarters. Draco, you are more than welcome to come to my quarters whenever you wish. However, please do not let the other students know about this passageway. Not that they could access it from either my quarters or Severus', but no one really needs to know about it."

"Hermione, you may also come to my quarters at any time as well," Severus added. He knew Hermione was more worried about being separated from him than from Draco, and he wanted to make clear to her that she always had access to him whenever she needed him. Hermione gave him an uneasy smile and nodded. Quietly sighing he turned his attention to Albus and clarified, "I will return for our brief meeting when I have gotten Draco settled."

"Take your time, Severus," Albus said gently, smiling benignly at Draco. "It was good to meet you, Draco. If you need anything, you are always welcome to come and ask me. You are also welcome to come visit whenever you wish."

This time Draco's smile was more genuine as he replied, "Thanks, Professor Dumbledore. It was good to meet you too. Bye, Fawkes. Goodnight, Professors." Fawkes nudged his hand in goodbye, then flew off the desk to return to his perch.

"Good night, Draco," Minerva answered for herself and Albus, walking over to Draco and giving him a hug which he easily returned. "We will see you tomorrow at breakfast. I would like for both you and Hermione to sit with us in the morning, then you may sit with the twins for lunch and dinner."

"Yes, Professor," Draco agreed.

Minerva clicked her tongue as she reminded him, "It's Minerva behind closed doors."

Draco grinned at her as he said happily, "Yes, Minerva. Good night."

"Good night, Draco!" Hermione called after him, smiling at him as she gave her Mimi a sideways hug. Draco smiled at his friend, and waved at her as Severus finally led him out of the Headmaster's office and down to the dungeons.

Once the door to the office had closed, Minerva sank down into a chair opposite Albus, pulling Hermione down with her and onto her lap. Hermione giggled as Minerva squeezed her tightly and asked, "So, how was the train ride? Anything exciting happen?"

"Nothing too eventful," Hermione answered truthfully, but looking over at her grandfather she added excitedly, "but I did try all the sweets on the trolley! We played a game with the twins where we dared each other to eat these nasty tasting jelly beans. Some tasted good, and others were disgusting!"

Albus laughed as he said, "Yes, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans can be both delicious and atrocious. I'm happy you were able to try all the goodies on the train. Did you meet anyone else besides the twins?"

"We met their brothers," Hermione answered, "but they didn't stay long as they went to sit with their friends." She then paused as she thought about what Charlie Weasley had said about her father and asked, "The students don't like my Dad, do they?"

Minerva and Albus shared a look before Minerva answered kindly, "Your father has built a reputation as a very stern, no-nonsense professor who favors his own house over others. He is particularly unfair to Gryffindor students."

"He said he was bullied by boys in his class who were in Gryffindor, and that's why he's mean to them," Hermione answered. "He promised he was going to try and be fairer to students this year though."

Albus and Minerva looked at their granddaughter in surprise. Albus finally asking, "How did you get him to make that promise, kitten?"

"I asked him if he was going to hate me if I ended up being sorted into Gryffindor next year," Hermione explained. "He said he wouldn't, so I think he's practicing being nicer this year before I start at Hogwarts for real next year."

"I am happy and relieved to hear that," Minerva stated, kissing Hermione's temple. "I've been trying to get him to be nicer for years. A lot of the grey hair I have is because of the stress he caused me. I love your father, but he can be stubborn."

Hermione giggled. When Albus and Minerva gave her questioning looks, she explained, "You all have described each other as 'stubborn'. I think being stubborn is a family trait."

Her grandparents laughed as they thought over her realization. Albus bowed his head as he confessed, "Yes, I am aware that I can be very stubborn at times."

"As can I," Minerva joined in with her husband.

They sat in silence for a bit until Hermione asked, "So, I'm sleeping in your quarters?"

"You will have a room in my first-floor quarters," Minerva answered, "but it will mostly be for looks. Granddad and I share our quarters here which is just through that door there."

Minerva pointed to a door to her right. Then pointing to another door on the opposite side of the room, she said, "Through that door is your real room. In your room, there is another door that leads to a passage that will take you directly to your father's room. Draco will remain unaware of that passageway, so if you need your father for anything, Draco won't see either of you coming and going."

Hermione released a sigh. She was glad that she had a direct way to her father and vice versa. If she had a nightmare, she could just run to his room. That thought made her ask her grandparents, "Has Daddy told you what to do if I have a nightmare?"

Minerva cradled her granddaughter to her as Albus answered, "No, but we will be sure to ask him. Are you still having nightmares often, Sweetpea?"

"No," she replied honestly, "but when I do have them, they're still bad. Sometimes Daddy says that I accidentally put up a spell that silences my screaming. He says he can feel the small pulses of magic though, so when he feels that he knows I'm having a nightmare."

"A Silencing charm," Albus surmised. Looking at his grandchild lovingly he said gently, "Well, sweetheart, we certainly want to help you through those bad dreams. I know it won't be the same as your father being there for you, but we will be there for whatever you need."

Hermione surveyed him before she gently climbed down off Minerva's lap, walked around Albus' desk, and climbed up on his lap. She gave him a serious look as she inquired, "Are you feeling better, Granddad? You sounded tired during your speech."

Albus smiled at her, his eyes twinkling madly as he replied, "I am still tired, but not like I was. Old men tire out faster than little girls do. I will be fine, pet."

Hermione was still staring at him uncertain, but before she could convey her doubts at his words, her bedroom door opened, and her father walked into the office. The corner of his mouth quirked up as he said, "That new passageway is incredibly convenient."

"Daddy!" Hermione cried in excitement as she carefully climbed down off Albus' lap and lunged into Severus' open arms.

"Hello, Cub," Severus said lovingly. "I've certainly missed you. How was your trip? How was sitting at the Gryffindor table?"

Hermione gave him a tiny scowl as she said, "How come you didn't tell us you were travelling on the train?"

"I wanted to be there in case anything happened," Severus answered, "but I didn't want to interfere with you and Draco making friends. Had I been sitting with you, everyone would have avoided you, and I didn't want that."

"Oh," said Hermione quietly. However, Charlie Weasley's words reverberated in her mind once more, and she knew that her father was right. Looking up at him through her lashes, she asked him softly, "You're still going to keep your promise, aren't you? About being fairer to the students?"

Severus looked around at Minerva and Albus who were both looking at him expectantly. He sighed as he told her, "Yes, I plan on keeping my promise."

Hermione smiled at him as she said through a yawn, "Good."

"Well, it looks like someone is ready for bed," said Severus as she snuggled into his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. Addressing Albus and Minerva, he said, "Let me put her to bed, and I will return shortly."

The couple smiled warmly at him as he turned and went into Hermione's new room. Unlike Albus' office, her bedroom was a square room just big enough for a twin-size bed, her trunk at the foot of it, a bedside table, and a wardrobe. Like her room back at Prince Manor, her room here had an ensuite as well. Across from her ensuite was another door that was the entrance to the secret passageway to Severus' quarters. The color scheme of Hermione's room for the moment was dark purple with a dark purple duvet and curtains off set by white sheets, towels, and other accents. Severus was glad to see that it was a neutral color, but he was sure that whatever color Hermione wanted to change her room to, if she did want to change, he or her grandparents would change it for her.

He walked in and sat her on the bed where she released him and laid down. He shook his head as he told her, "Up you get, Cub. You must get ready for bed. I brought our book along, so that we can finish it. Hurry up now."

Hermione moaned as she pushed herself up off the bed, and stumbled into her bathroom. Severus snorted as he sat down on the bed and waited for her to come back. A moment later, she returned, her nightgown on and teeth brushed. Severus stood and turned her bed down for her, then motioned for her to jump in. When she was settled, he grabbed the book off her bedside table, and opened it to the chapter they were ready for, and began to read. By the time he was finished with the chapter, she was snuggled down into the blankets, softly snoring and sound asleep. He gently stood up so as not to disturb her, and bent down to kiss the top of her head.

"Goodnight, sweetheart. Sleep well." He then quietly left her room to rejoin Albus and Minerva.

When Severus entered Albus' office, he and Minerva were sitting in silence, waiting for him to return. When he had seated himself in the chair beside Minerva's, the witch asked, "How is she, Severus?"

"She's sleeping peacefully," Severus answered, wishing he could be going to sleep himself. "Hopefully she will be so exhausted that she won't have any nightmares tonight."

"Yes, she was telling us that at times she accidentally puts up Silencing charms," Albus said wearily, his energy quickly draining. "Anything else we should be aware of?"

Severus stared at him for a moment in concern before he replied, "If she does have a nightmare, just hold her, and then when she's calm enough, make her talk about it, even if she flat out refuses."

"We will do that, Severus," Minerva answered, also looking at Albus with concern. "However, before you go back to your quarters, we wanted to let you know what is happening with Hogwarts, and why it is effecting Albus so."

Severus had continued to stare at Albus, watching as the older man blinked in slow motion as though appearing to be having trouble keeping his eyes open. He and Minerva exchanged worried glances as Severus suggested, "We can postpone that explanation if you need to get rest, Albus?"

"No, no," Albus said, holding up his hand as he sat up straighter in his chair, hoping that would help him wake up a little. He pointed up at one of the portraits and stated, "You need to hear this. Madam Spore can assist with the details."

At that moment, one of the portraits cleared her throat and said, "Good evening, Professor Snape. I am Phyllida Spore, and I can shed some light on what is going on with Headmaster Dumbledore and Hogwarts."

"Madam Spore can tell Severus and I," Minerva insisted, going to stand by her husband's side and caressing his cheek lovingly, "you need to get some sleep, love."

"I can make it, Tabby," Albus insisted weakly, giving his wife a tired but reassuring smile as he took her hand and kissed the back of it. Minerva remained by his side, gripping his hand in hers as she nodded to Madam Spore to begin her story.

"A few days ago," Phyllida began, "Albus came to us, complaining of chest pains, weakness, and fatigue. As I have watched him the past few days, I am certain that what I deduced was the cause of his issues earlier is in fact what is happening. Hogwarts' defenses have been tampered with, and the castle is protecting herself by tapping into the Headmaster's magical core."

Minerva looked down at her husband worriedly as Severus asked, "How has Hogwarts' defenses been tampered with? Surely we would have noticed someone attacking the school?"

"Yes, you would notice if that person was physically and brazenly attacking the castle," Phyllida allowed, "however, there are other ways to compromise Hogwarts. These ways are not well known except to the Headmaster, and even the Headmaster is unaware of all the defenses and spells that Hogwarts has in place. It is added security. The fewer people know, the safer the secret."

The family nodded, completely understanding that the best kept secrets were shared with as few people as possible. That's what they were doing now to protect their own little family. They remained silent, prompting Phyllida to go on.

"However, what I fear has been tampered with is an ancient magic that was put in place before I was inaugurated as Hogwarts' Headmistress. I added my own wards and defenses as I was well known in my time for my defensive spells. This would explain Albus' chronic fatigue and weakness as this magic is at the core of Hogwarts' protective spells. With this particular magic compromised, all the other defenses will be weakened which as well will cause the school to drain the magic from the current Headmaster, and if the Headmaster's magic is depleted, then it will tap into the Deputy's."

At this, Albus looked up at Minerva and squeezed her hand tighter as he said, some strength and authority returning to his voice as he rounded on Phyllida, "That fact was not made known to me. I will not have Minerva's health put in jeopardy. What is happening, Madam Spore? A few days ago, you only alluded to one of the old defenses being tampered with. What makes you so sure that it is the ancient magic that has been compromised?"

"Your rapid decline in strength, stamina, and health, Albus," Phyllida answered matter-of-factly. "If it was another defensive spell that was being corrupted, a man of your superior magic would not be as effected as seriously as you are."

They were all silent, the other portraits included as Phyllida continued, "What I believe has happened is that someone has learned of the Founder's Elements."

Some of the portraits gasped in shock; however, Minerva, and Severus merely continued staring at Phyllida's portrait until Minerva asked, "What are the Founder's Elements?"

Albus put his head in his free hand. He would have never imagined someone would have learned of _that_ ancient magic. If Phyllida was correct, there was a lot at stake. Minerva and Severus took note of Albus' reaction, and Minerva asked him, "You know what the Founder's Elements are, Albus?"

"I do indeed, love," Albus answered wearily. "However, Madam Spore can tell you more about them than I probably can." Phyllida nodded.

"The Founder's Elements are talismans that were created by each founder, hence the name, to protect Hogwarts even after the founders had passed on. However, if the elements are removed from where they are hidden, and used together, the elements could enhance a witch's or wizard's powers enough to be able to accomplish unthinkable magic that would otherwise be impossible. The elements are also at the core of what gives Hogwarts her magic and power. It's what the castle draws upon to protect herself, and the elements serve as a magical power grid of sorts. If the elements are removed, the school will lose its magic, and without its initial source of power will draw off the Headmaster. This is also part of the reason for the ceremony that joins the person's magical core to the castle's magic when a new Headmaster and Deputy are inducted so that the castle knows where to draw its reserves from."

Severus glanced over at Minerva and Albus, his adoptive parents. He fully took in Albus' weakness and Minerva's worry. If this problem wasn't sorted soon, there was a chance he could lose the people who had treated him more like a son than his own parents ever had. They were also the grandparents to his daughter, and he knew that if anything happened to them, she would be devastated just as he would. He had to help fix this before he lost his parents, and the possibility of losing them had never been as prominent as it was now. After all, Albus was the most powerful wizard of the time, and Minerva had rightfully earned her title as the most powerful witch of the age. He never imagined something like this would be what could potentially finish them. He looked back up at Phyllida when he heard her continue.

"To reduce the chances of the elements being found and used together, the elements were hidden in different places within the vicinity of Hogwarts and the grounds. No one is supposed to know where as the secret supposedly died with the founders. Now, a common miss conception is that even though the elements enhance a witch's or wizard's powers they aren't _elements_ in the sense of fire, earth, water, and wind; they're _elements_ of the person. Gryffindor enhances courage, Slytherin enhances cunning, Hufflepuff enhances loyalty, and Ravenclaw enhances wisdom."

"That doesn't seem so terrible," Severus tried to reason. "The elements of the person don't sound nearly as dangerous as environmental elements being at someone's disposal."

"It would seem that way, wouldn't it?" Phyllida questioned philosophically. "The elements can be used for good, but they can also emphasize the evil in a person. No one wants a dangerous, evil wizard who is full of courage to go through with awful deeds, cunning enough to accomplish the evil, extremely loyal to a horrible cause, with enhanced wisdom to stay a step ahead of everyone."

"When you put it that way…." Severus trailed off.

"Then as I have been saying," Phyllida concluded, "Without Hogwarts' primary power source, and the extra protection of the elements, Hogwarts will be vulnerable to attack as her magic and protection will eventually shut down. The castle will rely solely on the Headmaster's power and magic to defend herself, completely draining his core. Once the Headmaster's, and then the Deputy Headmistress's power is drained, the castle will be as vulnerable as a Muggle building. Anyone could destroy the school if they wanted to, and the Headmaster and Deputy along with it."

Albus, Minerva, and Severus all stared at each other. Immediately out of Severus' mouth was, "Hermione and Draco mustn't find out about this. We must find the person responsible for this before they remove all the elements. How do we protect the others, Madam Spore?"

"The locations will be tricky to uncover," Phyllida replied sadly. "I'm unsure how this person discovered any of the elements as the locations were said to have been kept a secret. I will consult with the other portraits throughout the castle. All I know for certain is that the elements are within the grounds of Hogwarts as they would have to be nearby for the castle to draw off their power. Anything else I've heard would only be described as hearsay."

"We will take any hearsay you have to offer," Albus prompted her.

"I have heard that the locations coincide with the animal symbolism the founders picked to represent their house. For example, Slytherin picked a snake, so his element may be in a dark, cave like place as that is where snakes are said to dwell. Ravenclaw picked an eagle, so her element may be somewhere in the mountains or hills surrounding the castle. Hufflepuff's animal is a badger, and badgers would be more at home in the forest. Lastly, Gryffindor picked a lion, lions are associated with royalty, and royals have castles. His element may be somewhere in the castle. I've no way to know which element this mysterious person has found and taken already."

"How will we know when another element has been discovered?" Minerva asked.

Phyllida peered sadly down at Albus and replied, "Albus will be able to know. The pain he experienced a few days ago alerted him that something was amiss with the castle as I had intended when I set that measure in place. Nothing gets a person's attention more than pain. I'm sure the castle will alert him in a similar way should this person find and remove any of the other elements."

Albus felt Minerva squeeze his hand tighter as he saw out of the corner of his eye Severus staring intently at him. He understood the seriousness of this situation, not only because it now affected Minerva, but because neither of them could afford to be off their game with Lucius snooping around, keeping their family in tact and a secret, and now a mysterious person who had somehow found out about Hogwarts' most ancient magic. He also wanted to be there for Hermione, to enjoy this year with her, and to enjoy having a family. He was angered and disappointed, and when he found out who this person was causing all these issues, they would not want to be on the other end of his ire.

"I'm sorry that I don't know more, Albus," said Phyllida, thinking his silence was because he was angry at her lack of knowledge. "I will do all I can to help, however."

"You have already helped a great deal," Albus placated her. "Without you, we wouldn't know what was happening. If you can speak with the other portraits throughout the castle, then that would be a great help. Speak with the ghosts as well, they may know something too. Tell us everything, even if it appears insignificant."

"I certainly will," Phyllida readily agreed. "I will begin at first light."

Albus bowed his head to her in thanks, then turning to his family said, "We had all better get some rest. We will figure out a strategy tomorrow. For now, let's keep this issue between us."

"Do you suspect someone on the staff?" Minerva questioned him slightly alarmed.

"At this time, I suspect everyone but our family," Albus answered her truthfully, bringing her hand to his lips. "We can't take any chances, Tabby."

She gave a curt nod as Albus turned to Severus and said, "I also agree with you that Hermione and Draco cannot find out. I don't want Hermione to be worried, and if Narcissa cannot be trusted yet, I don't want Draco telling her."

Severus gave him a curt nod as well. He quickly stood, Phyllida's words ringing clearly in his thoughts as he said, "I will excuse myself now so that you can get some rest. I will see you both in the morning for breakfast. If Hermione needs me, do not hesitate to come get me."

Before either Minerva or Albus could say anything more to him, Severus turned on his heel, and quickly and quietly walked through Hermione's bedroom to take the new passage directly to his quarters. Before he left, however, he stopped and looked at Hermione still sleeping peacefully. Unable to help himself, he walked over to her bedside and leaned down, kissing her temple. He swept the hair off her face, the corner of his mouth quirked up as he saw her smiling in her sleep. Reassured that his daughter was safe, unlike his parents, he left for his quarters for a fitful night's rest.

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Minerva was getting ready for bed in the bathroom after she had helped Albus get ready, and had settled him down in the bed. She was so worried about him. Ever since she had been eleven, Albus had been a constant in her life. Even after she had left Hogwarts to pursue her career as an Auror, she had always been able to contact Albus when she had needed help or simply needed someone to talk to. When she had gotten older, there had been an attraction between them, but Albus had always been a gentleman, and she had always wondered if it would be appropriate to date a man who had once been her professor and Head of House. So, while they had both skirted around their affection for one another, she had gotten married to a man who had been her supervisor while she had been a young Auror. They had had a wonderful marriage, that is, after Minerva had finally accepted his proposal. Alas, he would meet an untimely end, and a sad widow turned to her oldest friend and colleague, Albus. When an appropriate amount of time had passed for Minerva to grieve, Albus had finally approached her, telling her that he did love her, and that while he was sad that her first husband had been killed, he would have to be a fool not to take her as his bride. Relieved that he had admitted his affection for her, she admitted her affection for him, and they had married shortly after. While she had been content in her first marriage, her marriage to Albus couldn't compare. She had found her match, her best friend, and her soul mate. There was no one for her but Albus, and if she lost Albus to this, she would be heartbroken. There would be no one after him, and the thoughts of losing him scared her more than anything.

As she came back into their bedroom, she stopped and watched Albus sleeping. Even though he was quite a few years her senior, he had always seemed younger than her. He had the humor and curiosity of a young boy, and his optimism kept his spirit light and young. To see him as an old man in pain and weak caused her heart to hurt and tears to sting the corners of her eyes. She would give anything to have her fun, loving husband back. She would take on his pain as her own so that he wouldn't have to experience it. Hogwarts could do without her, but the school wouldn't last long without him. He was the backbone of this institution. Yes, he was the Headmaster, but with him here, the most powerful wizard of the age, everyone felt especially safe. He was also the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. Without Albus, their world, and her world especially, would be very dark.

She then thought about Severus and Hermione. If something happened to Albus, they would need her to be strong. She would be the head of their family at that point. However, if they couldn't catch the person taking the Founder's Elements, then there may be a chance she may not make it through this ordeal either. It was a lot to take in before bed, so she decided she would snuggle up to Albus, and try to put these thoughts off until morning.

She climbed into bed, turning her bedside light out, and cuddling into Albus' side. Albus stirred a little, but didn't wake. She wrapped her arm around his middle, resting her head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. As she listened, she couldn't stop the tears from escaping her eyes, soaking into Albus' nightshirt. When she sniffed, she felt Albus move, but when she felt his lips on her forehead, she couldn't hold back her sadness any longer.

"I'm all right, Tabby," Albus soothed her in his deep voice, his words slurred slightly from sleep. "Everything will be all right."

"I'm just so worried," Minerva said thickly. She sat up to grab a tissue from her bedside table, and blew her nose. "I can't imagine my life without you, love. I just can't."

"You won't be without me just yet," Albus tried to comfort her, struggling to sit up so that he could hold her. Giving up he said softly, "Please, come here."

Minerva gave him a pitiful look through watery, emerald eyes as she lowered herself back down into his arms. She tucked her head under his chin, letting him rub her arm soothingly as he said hoarsely, "We will get through this. We have Severus now, and we have friends here. Eventually, if this person can get to any of the other elements, I will be unable to hide my condition. However, I am hoping that we can stop this person before this starts to affect you. As your husband, I have a duty to keep you safe, and as head of our family, I have an obligation to make sure our family is safe. Of course, as Headmaster, I must also ensure that all those who reside within Hogwarts are taken care of as well. We will make it through this, Tabby. We will."

"I love you, Albus," Minerva said, gripping his nightshirt. "As your wife, though, I too have an obligation to you to make sure that you are safe."

"And I love you, Minerva," Albus replied lovingly, kissing her hairline. "I know, and you do a marvelous job. Together, we will get through."

Eventually, both fell into a fitful sleep.

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In Hogsmeade, there was a lone figure walking towards a rundown, abandoned house on the edge of the village. No one dared come into this area of the village, so the figure had no fears of being discovered with the precious cargo that was hidden in the house it had just entered. Going over to a loose floorboard in the living room, the figure pried the board up and reached down, bringing up a velvet pouch from underneath the floor. The figure tipped the pouch upside down, and out fell a dull, glowing green talisman. The figure picked the talisman up between their fingers, and held it up allowing the moon's faint rays to make it glow a brighter green. The figure couldn't help but let out a sinister laugh.

"Slytherin's element is a beautiful thing," it said, crossing over to the table that had been left in the dining room. It laid the element down, and reaching into its robes brought out a tattered, old book that looked ancient. It flipped through the pages, finally coming to the section it desired, and said aloud, "This led me to the first element. Let's see if it will lead me to the others."

Pointing its wand at the fire, the fireplace suddenly exploded into flames allowing the figure to sit at the table, and pour over the old, unassuming book.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again everyone! I apologize for the long delay in updating this story. A lot has happened in life, and I have come across a terrible case of writer's block.**

 **Also, I wanted to quickly note that when I post a chapter, I try very hard to catch all my typos and grammatical errors. I don't have a Beta or anyone else on the side checking my writing for me. When you come across a grammatical error, and you will, please understand that I don't do that on purpose. I had someone get slightly angry in a comment on my last story about how one of the sentences from Narcissa was grammatically incorrect. That is an example of an, unfortunately, read over and unfixed typo. Sometimes I read what the character is supposed to be saying rather than what is written. All that to say, please try to be understanding, and allow me to say a quick apology for all future typos.**

 **So, there's a lot going on with the family at this point. What's up with the Founder's Elements? Is Albus going to be all right? Who is this strange figure that is faceless, nameless, and in the background of all the mischief? So many questions! You will all know in good time, I promise. This chapter may be a bit shorter since I want to give you all an update, and gradually work my way around this block that I'm having. Happy reading!**

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Albus woke early the next morning, and smiled softly as he noticed that Minerva's head was still on his chest, her fist clenching his nightshirt. He softly kissed her forehead, and gently untangled his shirt from her fingers so that he could get out of bed. He was feeling more energized than he had felt in the past few days, and realizing he wouldn't be going back to sleep, decided to go into his office. Looking at the wall clock, he read that it was six in the morning. This was the time he usually rose during the school year, but he decided he wouldn't get ready for the day yet; he would relax in the comfort of his nightclothes and robe while he thought over Phyllida's words from the previous evening.

As he sat himself behind his desk, he quietly called out for one of the house-elves to bring him some tea, and within seconds a steaming pot appeared before him. As he sipped the warm, calming liquid he puzzled over how someone could have discovered the Founder's Elements. The magic was so old that Albus doubted very much that someone had simply heard about it by word of mouth. Perhaps someone had recorded it in a book, but what type of book would have mentioned them? Yet, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch for someone to have discovered the Elements from a book. The Deathly Hallows were told about in a children's book for Merlin's sake, and for those who thought – and knew – that the tale of the Deathly Hallows was in fact true, the Founder's Elements wouldn't be that much harder to believe.

It was one hurdle in figuring out how someone had discovered the existence and whereabouts of the Elements, and quite another to unravel the reason someone would want to take them. Albus couldn't remember a time when anyone had sought the powers those talismans possessed. None of the other Headmasters or Headmistresses had told him of anyone in their times either. The only person he could think of who would want them was Voldemort. However, good sources of information had stated the last known area Voldemort had been sighted in was Albania. Perhaps one of his Death Eaters was working on the side to assist him? Yet, he struggled to see how the Elements would help that person bring Voldemort back to full power. Phyllida had mentioned that together the Elements would enhance in a person what each of the founders valued most. Maybe the person was hoping to find Ravenclaw's talisman to enhance their wisdom to find another way to revive Voldemort? Or maybe he was giving Voldemort too much credit? Perhaps someone was acting on their own to become the next powerful, dark wizard in Voldemort's absence?

Albus sighed in frustration. Whatever the reason for this person or persons wanting the Elements, the fact of the matter was that without the Elements, the castle was not as well protected. Also with him weakened by the castle supplementing itself with his magic, he wasn't as powerful, and therefore, he couldn't offer as much protection either for those residing within the castle.

At those troubling thoughts, he looked back to his bedroom and thought of Minerva. After so many years of fighting his feelings for her, he had finally embraced them, getting the pleasure of taking her as his wife. He had promised her that he would always be there for her, protect her, challenge her, be there for better or worse, in sickness and health. They had shared many happy years, both before and after becoming husband and wife, despite the various dark wizards making trouble in the between years. Now their family had grown to include Severus and Hermione.

Chuckling to himself, Albus turned to the other door that led to Hermione's room. That little girl in there had done more for their family than she could ever imagine. She was a beautiful little girl with lots of wisdom, kindness, and love to share with others. Albus saw a bright future for her and her father. He also couldn't be any prouder of Severus than if he had vanquished Voldemort himself. Severus never wanted the best of himself revealed to anyone, which had deprived a lot of people from really getting to know and like the young man. He had been so hard on himself since Lily had died that Albus had feared he may never recover, fully choosing to live in a past that he could never change. Then all it had taken to give Severus a purpose again was that little girl lying asleep in that room.

Albus frowned at Hermione's door as he thought about how much his family depended on him, and realizing how much he needed them in return. He had failed his family once many years ago, and he would not fail his family now. He quickly looked around the room before he opened one of his desk drawers and brought out an old, tattered, black-and-white picture of a young girl. Even though the picture lacked color, Albus could vividly see how blue the little girl's eyes were and how red her hair was. He could see the freckles on her face despite some slight tattering from years of looking at the photo. He remembered her smile and could hear her laughter. He could hear her saying as though she was sitting across from him, like she had as a small child, "C'mon, Alby! Come play with us!"

Albus lightly caressed his thumb over the girl's cheek as he whispered hoarsely to her, "I'm sorry I can't make it up to you, Ariana. But I'm trying not to fail them now as I failed you. I wish you were here."

As he stared at the picture with a mixture of love and remorse, he suddenly felt a small pulse of magic. He looked around his office confused at first until he felt it again, and this time he homed in on Hermione's room. He suddenly remembered what Hermione had said the night before about her father knowing she was having a nightmare because he felt her putting up a Silencing Charm. Albus promptly put down his sister's photo and went to Hermione's room. He quietly opened the door and saw the little girl silently crying and tossing about slightly. Albus hurried into the room, closing the door behind him. Waving his hand, he canceled the spell, and heard Hermione's heartbreaking cries. Much to his surprise, she was calling for him.

"Granddad! Granddad, don't go!" She was sobbing now, tossing, and reaching for him.

"Shh, my little kitten," Albus soothed her as he sat on the edge of her bed, cradling her in his arms, and rocking back and forth. "I'm not going anywhere. Wake up, kitten, I'm here. Shh."

After a few minutes, Hermione finally stopped crying, cuddling into Albus. A minute later, she opened her watery eyes, looking up into Albus' face as she asked in a pitifully small voice, "Granddad?"

"Good morning, pet," Albus answered, smiling down at her. He kissed the top of her head and said, "Let's talk about your nightmare."

She looked at him with a mixture of sadness and embarrassment as she asked, "Do we have to?"

"Your father's orders," Albus insisted, trying not to give in to her puppy dog eyes, and not be the bad guy either. Grandparents weren't supposed to be the bad guys after all as that was what parents were for.

Hermione sighed and finally consented much to Albus' relief. Chuckling, Albus suggested, "How about you sit with me in my office with a cup of hot chocolate?"

Hermione's eyes lit up at the idea of getting an early morning hot chocolate. Ever since she had tasted it for the first time with her Granddad, she had loved it. She would always associate the sweet, chocolatey beverage with him. She nodded eagerly before springing out of bed. She made a stop at her bathroom first while Albus made his way back into his office, and reheated his cup of tea. A minute later, Hermione came into the room, and Albus patted his knee to indicate that she should sit on his lap. Hermione was only happy to oblige. When she had, Albus called out for a mug of hot chocolate which appeared before Hermione a second later. She looked around at him in awe.

"We have house-elves at Hogwarts as well," he explained, "and as Headmaster, I have my own personal elf to assist me. More at Mimi's request than mine as at times I can get very involved in my work, and I forget there is such a thing as food."

Hermione nodded as she carefully took the mug into her hands. She couldn't help but smile as she smelled the delicious drink, and then she took a sip. Hermione smiled at Albus to show off her brown moustache which made Albus' eyes twinkle and earned her a chuckle.

"Now," Albus said, using his deep voice to get her attention, "about your nightmare."

Hermione looked away and put the mug down on his desk as she licked her upper lip in thought. Deciding to just get it over with she explained, "It was about you."

Albus nodded as he patiently waited for Hermione to continue. She sighed and said, "I don't know why you're feeling badly, but you'll be all right, won't you?"

"Ah," Albus said as he understood that she was describing the toll the missing Element was having on him. He knew she didn't know the true reason behind his fatigue and pain, and as was agreed upon last night, she wasn't going to find out. "I will be all right, kitten. I fear that I am just simply getting old. One as young as yourself still has a great while before you experience the pains of growing old. Growing older isn't for the weak."

She frowned at him as she thought over his explanation. Finally, she bluntly asked him, "How old are you?"

Albus smiled as he answered, "This past July I turned one-hundred and nine." Hermione's jaw dropped causing Albus to laugh out right. "Do you believe me now that I am old?"

"How?" Hermione asked in shock. "I've never known anyone to be over one-hundred!"

"Well," Albus explained, "magical folks live longer than Muggles do. No one knows why for sure, but most believe that it is our magic that extends our lives."

"Wow," Hermione said quietly. Albus gave her a kind look.

"I will be just fine," Albus tried to convince her. "This will pass, perhaps like a kidney stone, but I will be fine. I am not going to leave you for a long time."

The shock of learning Albus' age was replaced with worry for his health as she stated, "I just don't want to lose you. I love you, Granddad."

"And I love you too, Hermione," Albus told her, hugging her to him, letting her nuzzle into his neck. "You are a wonderful person, full of so much love. It is rather remarkable considering the life you have had to endure. You are an inspiration, my dear."

Hermione smiled at his praise. "I don't know about being an inspiration. I'm not that great."

Albus thought about her comment, and then made her sit up and look at him. "'Not that great'? You know I beg to differ as does Mimi and your father."

Hermione shrugged, looking anywhere but at him. "I think of you, Mimi, and Daddy as being great. Especially with everything you all have done. I'm not like you."

"You are so much more than I am, pet," Albus told her seriously. "You will do great things in time. You have already done several great things which I have already listed to you. When I was your age, I couldn't imagine accomplishing all that you have. I am positive that by the time you are my age, you will have done more than I ever considered doing."

Hermione was silent. She couldn't even imagine reaching his age. She couldn't even imagine reaching the age of eighteen, not that she would tell her family that. Before she had been rescued from her parents, she hadn't been sure which age she would reach, but she knew she wouldn't get very old. Sure, she had thought about what she would be when she was an adult, but that was more her attempting to trick herself into thinking she would survive her home life. For some reason, she still had a feeling in the bottom of her heart that she wouldn't make it to adulthood.

When Hermione looked up, she noticed her grandfather giving her a soft yet scrutinizing look over his glasses. She quickly looked away and took up her mug wanting to get a drink, so she wouldn't have to say anything. She heard him sigh softly while at the same time she heard a door close. She looked up briefly to see her grandmother coming towards her, smiling as she pulled her tartan robe around her neck against the slight chill of Albus' office. She snapped her fingers in the general direction of the fireplace where flames spontaneously ignited in the grate.

"Good morning, kitten," Minerva greeted as she walked around Albus' desk to give him a good morning kiss. "Good morning to you too, Albus."

"Good morning, Tabby," returned Albus, giving her a flirtatious wink over Hermione's head. Minerva smiled.

"Good morning, Mimi!" Hermione greeted her enthusiastically as she slid off her grandfather's lap to hug her grandmother. Minerva returned the little girl's hug, and then noticed the mug of hot chocolate that was still sitting on Albus' desk.

She arched her eyebrow as she asked, "Hot chocolate first thing in the morning?"

"Well –" Albus began.

"Honestly," Minerva said, shaking her head. "All right, love, it's time to start getting ready. Breakfast starts at eight o'clock, and we are to meet your father and Draco there. Go one now."

Hermione looked to Albus who gave her a slight nod that she was excused from their talk. Somewhat thankful, Hermione ran into her room to do as her grandmother asked. When Hermione's door had closed, Minerva gently told her husband, "We had better start getting ready too."

"She had a nightmare, Minerva," Albus said. "We were talking over hot chocolate."

Minerva briefly closed her as she said, "I am so sorry, Albus. I didn't realize. Is she all right?"

"It's all right," Albus said, accepting her apology. "She is fine. However, keeping my… _condition_ …from her may not be easy."

Minerva gave him a concerned look as she asked quietly, "How so?"

"She is incredibly observant," Albus told her, leaning back in his chair. "Her nightmare last night involved something terrible happening to me. She said she didn't want to lose me…."

"None of us do, Albus," Minerva confirmed softly as she came around his desk and knelt in front of him. "You are more to us than just the most powerful wizard of the age and Headmaster of Hogwarts. You are more to us than your titles and accomplishments. You are my husband, whom I love very much because of the man you are. You are like Severus' father, and you know his biological one severely lacked in anything paternal. And you are Hermione's grandfather, the man who rescued her from a dire situation without knowing who she was except for a child in need. We love you for _you_ , Albus, and we would all be devasted if anything happened to you. We want you around, and, well, we need you around. You're part of us."

She saw his eyes well up with tears and stood to hug him as he put his arms around her middle. As she stroked his hair, she looked over at his desk and noticed the faded picture of his sister, Ariana. She heaved a sigh of sadness as she hugged him tighter and asked him softly, "What is going through your mind, Albus? What prompted you to bring out Ariana's picture?"

She felt him stiffen slightly, but in the next moment he tightened his grip on her as he explained, "I failed to protect her. I had an obligation to her as her older brother and guardian and I failed her. She may still be alive today if it wasn't for me and my pride. I only hope that I don't fail you all in the same way. I hope that I can stop this person before he or she endangers my family and this school."

"And you will," Minerva said confidently. "You faced other trials and came through. However, this time you have a family who is more than willing to help you. Let us help you win this fight, my love. You have carried the burden to protect others on your shoulders for years out of guilt for Ariana. Sometimes you want to protect us so fiercely that you distance yourself from those who love you because of the potential we may get hurt. You push us away when we desire so much to help you. Let me help you."

Albus was silent for a while before he said hoarsely, "I may not have a choice. If this person finds and removes any more elements, I will be incapacitated. One of my worst fears though is that this negatively impacts you as well. I can't lose you, or Severus, or Hermione like I lost Ariana. I don't know that I would have the ability to live through something like that again."

"You won't have to, love," Minerva soothed him, kissing his forehead. "I promise, we will all make it through this in one piece."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hermione was finishing getting ready in her room as she thought over her conversation with her grandfather earlier that morning. She knew there was something wrong with him, but she didn't know what was suddenly causing his health to deteriorate. She also had a nagging feeling that maybe he knew more about his condition than he was letting on. Even if he was older than any person she had ever known, his age couldn't be the only reason he was feeling terrible. He hadn't been the same since dinner at McGonagall Manor, and he had been in excruciating pain.

No, something was wrong, and he knew what it was, he just didn't want to tell her. Maybe she could heal him like she had healed her grandmother. Maybe all he had to do was tell her what was wrong or where he was hurting, and she could help. Granted she didn't understand exactly how she had healed Mimi, but she would be willing to try again if that meant making him feel better and like his old self.

With her mind made up, she marched to her door with her hand on the knob when she heard her name mentioned from her grandfather's office. Knowing it was wrong, but unable to help herself, she opened her door a crack and listened to what was being said.

"I may not have a choice. If this person finds and removes any more elements, I will be incapacitated. One of my worst fears though is that this negatively impacts you as well. I can't lose you, or Severus, or Hermione like I lost Ariana. I don't know that I would have the ability to live through something like that again." Her grandfather's voice sounded more heavy and sad than she had ever heard him.

"You won't have to, love," Minerva soothed him. "I promise, we will all make it through this in one piece."

Hermione silently closed the door. Why was her Granddad afraid to lose them? What were the elements he mentioned? Who was Ariana? Why was her grandmother saying they would all make it in one piece? What was happening around her family and Hogwarts this year? She fell back against her bed more concerned now than she had been before. So, her grandfather was the start of something that was going to affect all of them? What were these elements her Granddad spoke of that would leave him incapacitated? Was that what was wrong with him? Even though she was more concerned, at least she wasn't completely clueless anymore. She had some clues to work with now, and she knew exactly where she needed to go.


	4. Chapter 4

Well, she didn't know _exactly_ where to go. She had no idea where the library was within Hogwarts. She would have to explore later, but for now she had to be at breakfast with her family. She couldn't let on like she knew anything, or her mission would be shut down before it even started. No, she would have to wait and be smart about when and how she researched what could be going on with her grandfather and Hogwarts. When her classes started tomorrow, she could also use the cover of her studies to find out about these so-called "elements". Maybe she could enlist Draco to help her, and maybe even the twins. She would just have to see how far she got on her own first.

"You seem preoccupied this morning," she heard Minerva say, her grandmother's words faintly breaking through her racing thoughts. "Are you all right?"

At Minerva's question, Hermione's mind and eyes came back into focus as she glanced around the Great Hall. She and her grandparents had met her father and Draco in the Hall before many of the other students or faculty had arrived. Hermione was seated in between her grandparents while Draco was seated between her father and grandfather. The din of voices and clatter of plates, cups, and cutlery was louder now than it had been before she tuned out, suggesting more students had finally been hungry enough to drag themselves out of bed. As she scanned the Gryffindor table, a small group of people with bright, red hair were just seating themselves. A moment later, a thud echoed through the hall as she saw one of the twins' heads hit the table from exhaustion. His twin and Charlie mercilessly laughed at him while Percy merely rolled his eyes and helped himself to oatmeal.

"I'm fine," said Hermione simply as she watched the sleepy twin snap his head up and fiercely rub where it had smacked the table.

Minerva clicked her tongue before she probed further, "Is it about your nightmare last night? Or your talk with Granddad this morning?"

Hermione quickly glanced up at her grandfather who she was glad to see was engaging in conversation with Draco and her father. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, but whatever it was, Draco was grinning. Bringing her attention back to her grandmother, who was peering at her over the rims of her square spectacles, she hastily answered, "No."

Seeing that the elder witch was not satisfied with these short answers she was supplying, Hermione hoped to change the subject and carefully asked, "So, who is the girl that Granddad has a picture of out on his desk?"

Minerva breathed a sad, heavy sigh and answered, "That is Ariana, your Granddad's youngest sibling and only sister. She died when she was very young."

"How did she die?" asked Hermione. How sad for her Granddad, she thought.

"From my understanding, she was trying to stop two people from dueling and was caught in the middle of it," explained Minerva softly, swiftly glancing at Albus. "A stray spell from one of the duelists killed her."

Before Hermione could ask any more about Ariana, Minerva continued, "Your Granddad was a young adult then, not long graduated from Hogwarts. When you are a young adult, there are some situations that will shape who you are for the rest of your life. For Albus, the death of his sister and the way she died made him very protective of his loved ones. Just remember that if you ever think about getting yourself into any mischief."

Hermione said nothing but frowned as she pushed her food around her plate. Did her grandmother suspect that she was planning to do research on what was happening at Hogwarts? There was no way she could know. Maybe her subtle warning was there for future reference? Perhaps. Whatever the case for the warning, she was still going to find out what was hurting her family. Now, she just had to be extra cautious.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the brief talk with her grandmother, breakfast had gotten extremely busy for her and Draco. Some of the professors had wanted to introduce themselves to Hogwarts' youngest pupils, and quickly go over what they would be teaching them. Each professor made it a point to stress that they would not be teaching them any magic, which caused Draco to be slightly bitter. Severus had to glare at him once to remind him of his manors. While a little disappointed herself, Hermione was simply happy being here at Hogwarts rather than at her Muggle primary school.

Eventually all the students and professors dispersed, leaving the little family by themselves at the Head Table. Knowing that Severus hadn't had the opportunity to say good morning to Hermione, Minerva suggested loudly, "Well, Draco, I have heard that you are an excellent flyer and avid fan of Quidditch. Would you like me to show you the trophy room and the Quidditch pitch before lunch?"

"Sure!" said Draco excitedly, hopping up from his seat. Looking at Hermione, he asked, "Do you want to come with us?"

Sensing what Minerva's motives were, Albus said, "I wanted to talk to Hermione for a minute alone. Later, we will have the same talk, Draco."

While Draco had looked at ease with Albus over breakfast, he shrunk back a little at the Headmaster's words as he replied, "Yes, sir."

"Come on then," Minerva nudged him, walking around the table. "I will give you the grand tour."

"Did you ever play Quidditch while at Hogwarts, Minerva?" Draco asked as he hurried to catch up with her long strides.

"I did," replied Minerva with a slight smirk on her face. "We'll stop by the trophy room first, so you can see what sort of player I was."

Severus rolled his eyes at Minerva's and Draco's retreating forms. Smirking down at Hermione, he confided to her in a low voice, "I don't envy Draco."

"How come?" asked Hermione. "He'll love talking about Quidditch."

"Well," Albus said slowly, "Minerva can get quite passionate about the sport. She was a wonderful Chaser when she was in school; however, a rather nasty foul by a Slytherin beater cost her and her team the trophy during her last year. She's never gotten over it I'm afraid."

"While she is regaling Draco with stories of her legendary Quidditch career," Severus drawled, changing the subject, "I would like us to spend the morning together. I will show you my quarters and my classroom as well so that you know where I am in the castle."

"Cool!" exclaimed Hermione, beaming at him. While she was happy to be spending quality time with her dad, she was also slightly frustrated at being delayed in going to the library. Yet, he knew how much she loved books and reading and the library at Prince Manor, so perhaps she could have her father show her where the library was located.

Albus was smiling at them as he rose from his chair and said, "Have a wonderful morning, kitten. Severus, I am going to speak more with Madam Spore. If you should need anything, I will be in my office." With a quick wink to Hermione, he set to depart.

"Wait!" Hermione called after him. "I thought we were going to have a talk?"

Albus smiled at her as he explained, "I said that to give you an excuse to stay behind. However, I do want to talk to Draco later alone. I shall see you both at lunchtime." Albus gave her a small bow and then left.

As she watched Albus leave, she became curious about the person he was going to be speaking with and asked her father, "Who's Madam Spore?"

"An acquaintance of Albus'," said Severus simply. Before Hermione could ask more, he stated, "Come with me."

He quickly and silently took off, his cloak billowing behind him while Hermione jogged to keep up and filing away the mysterious Madam Spore to research later, too.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The realization that she and her family would have to remain at a distance while out in public was never so prevalent as it was walking from the Great Hall to her father's quarters and classroom. Once her father had stepped out of the Great Hall, his demeanor had changed and for the worse. This man who walked these corridors; no, this man who _glided along_ these corridors with her, seemingly annoyed with her presence, was a man so opposite her father that it scared her slightly to think that he could conjure this forbidding person and act as though this was how he always was. If this was a glimpse into how he was going to have to treat her while at Hogwarts, then she had a feeling she may not be spending much time with him while at school.

She watched as students cleared the way for him and refused to make eye contact. Once he had passed, they looked at her with pity; perhaps even fear for her safety. All she could offer them as a way of explanation was a hasty glance as she hurried to keep up with him. She remained silent as they continued to venture down into the depths of the castle. She wondered if they were ever going to reach their destination, when she noticed her father turning down another corridor lit with torches and lined with portraits and wooden doors leading into unknown rooms or other corridors. She also noticed a few more students in this area, and she saw many of them were wearing some article of clothing that was green.

She let out a tiny sigh of relief when her father reached for one of the over-sized wooden doors along the left side of the corridor, but the relief was short lived. As he began to push the door open, a student speedily but apprehensively approached him, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Hermione couldn't help but jump back in surprise as the young and frightened looking young boy fumbled out a hasty apology to his professor.

"My apologies for disturbing you, Professor," the student squeaked, "I was just hoping to drop off my remedial work from the summer to you, so I wouldn't forget it tomorrow."

Hermione grimaced with the student when she saw the look upon her father's face as he slowly turned to glare at the boy trembling before him. Breaking eye contact with the unhappy professor, she quickly noted that the boy's robes he was wearing were lined on the inside with red just like the twins' robes had been last night at the Welcome Feast. With a quiet groan, Hermione concluded this was a Gryffindor student.

"You disturb the last day of my summer holiday to ask that I hold on to your work due to your appalling memory?" he asked the student in a deadly whisper.

Hermione thought the boy may pass out from fright as he said shakily, "I – suppose so, sir."

As her father's hand quickly reached out and snatched the boy's homework, Hermione couldn't help but flinch. She shrunk back with the young student as her father bit out, "I suppose it would be best considering your awful memory was the reason for this additional work in the first place. You couldn't even remember the simplest of potions last year. I hope you have improved over the summer because should your less than impressive skills create more chaos in my classroom, you'll be receiving far worse than additional homework from me. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Reid?"

Unable to say anything, the young Gryffindor simply nodded his understanding before he turned and bolted away, disappearing further up the corridor.

With an aggravated sigh, Severus pushed the door open further and swooped into the room beyond. Hermione quickly, though hesitantly, followed him inside. Once inside, she took in the dim, torch lit room, and noted that it reminded her of her father's potion's lab at home. There was a mixture of open shelves and cabinets, all holding a vast array of differently shaped jars containing ingredients, and there were cauldrons and vials all neatly stacked and prepared for the next potion to be brewed. The only differences between the classroom and the lab at Prince Manor were all the pub height tables and stools, work benches, and the chalkboard. She jumped slightly when she heard the door slam behind her and turned around in time to see her father pointing his wand at the door and muttering at it. She watched as the door seemed to glow faintly, but a moment later it had returned to its normal state. Noticing that Hermione was staring, Severus explained, "That was a spell that will keep anyone from spying. No one can eavesdrop or come in; should they try, it will not be pleasant for them."

Hermione nodded silently as she watched her father cross the room, throwing the Reid kid's homework on his desk, and informing her as he did so, "This is the Potion's classroom. Unless otherwise directed, all of your potion classes will be held here." He stopped at one door, then turned and pointed to two more, "The door to the left is a storage room full of my rarer ingredients and equipment, and the other door behind my desk is my office. Through this door" he gestured behind him, "is another way into my private quarters that remains locked at all times. This door has the same spell guarding it as the classroom door does now. Please inform anyone in your class that should they try to get through this door, they will need to be escorted to the Hospital Wing for severe injuries."

Hermione's eyes widened slightly that her father would use such a spell around children, but she didn't have much time to dwell on that fact as her father opened the door to his quarters and invited her inside. She couldn't help but smile when she saw that the interior of her father's quarters was a lot like the interior of Prince Manor. Seeing that his quarters were in the dungeons of Hogwarts, she would have thought that they would have had more of a dungeon like feel. However, she should have known better considering that his home was full of light tones and comfortable furniture despite the Manor's – and owner's – darker exterior. As she looked closer throughout his quarters, it appeared as though he had copied the furniture of Prince Manor precisely, as the furniture here was the exact same right down to the worn leather of his recliner. The paint color was the same; the hardwood floor was the same; the stone and wooden accents were the same. It was as though she had stepped through a portal and had come out the other side at home. The only feature that puzzled her was that there were windows along some of the walls with sunlight shining through them, illuminating the rooms with natural light. Hermione looked curiously up at Severus and asked, "I thought we were down in the dungeons? How is sunlight coming in through these windows? Why are there even windows down here?"

Severus snorted with amusement as he said, "There is a spell that allows walls or ceilings to mirror weather conditions. This spell you see here for my windows is the same spell on the ceiling of the Great Hall. Despite looking as though I detest sunlight, I do enjoy natural light coming through."

Unable to help herself, Hermione approached a window and touched it, slightly surprised that it felt like stone despite looking like a newly washed window. "Wow!"

"Indeed," Severus agreed as he gently took her by the shoulder and steered her through his quarters. They eventually arrived outside another door as he said, "This is where my bedroom is located."

He pushed the door open to show her, and once again she saw an exact replica of her father's bedroom from home. The only difference was that there was an additional door beside the one that led to his ensuite.

"That is the door that leads to the stairway that connects our rooms," Severus noted when he saw Hermione had noticed the new addition. "You may visit at any time. However, we will still provide the courtesy of knocking before entering."

Hermione merely nodded her consent. While she was happy that she was getting to spend time with her father by seeing a little bit more of Hogwarts, she couldn't help but think about his severe reaction to the Gryffindor student earlier. He had promised to try and be fairer to the Gryffindors, but if that was him trying, then she couldn't imagine how he had treated them all these years! She had been worried about being sorted into Gryffindor before; now she was terrified.

Seeing that Hermione seemed to be far away with her thoughts, Severus sat on the end of his bed and asked somewhat sternly, "What's wrong, Hermione?"

Hearing the tone of his voice, she shuffled slightly as she said to the floor, "I thought you were going to be nicer to the Gryffindors. The way you treated that boy was…scary."

Severus' outward appearance was calm as he nodded at her words, but inside he was berating himself. He had promised her that he would try to be nicer, and he had failed before term had officially started. As he thought about his interaction with the Reid boy, he had been particularly short with him, but he hadn't wanted to be bothered while he enjoyed the morning with his daughter. It had set him on edge when that student, a Gryffindor to boot, had wanted to give him homework to look after because the boy was so careless he couldn't even trust himself to turn it in tomorrow when it was due. Even though he had promised Hermione that he would try to change his attitude towards those who belonged to Gryffindor House, he couldn't help but bitterly think that of all people to ruin his morning with Hermione, it _would_ be a Gryffindor.

"Cub," Severus began, trying to fight back his annoyance at himself so that Hermione didn't think his frustration was at her, "I am sorry. You are correct that my treatment towards Mr. Reid could be interpreted as 'scary'. I was rather annoyed with him that he was interrupting our morning."

When Hermione still refused to look at him, Severus continued, "I seem to remember telling you that I would not be good at this in the beginning. You will have to give me time to work on my promise, Hermione. I know you understand that there are habits that take quite a while to change."

At his last statement, she peered up at him to see him studying her. She did understand; there were still hard habits that she was working to break from when she lived with her Muggle family. She slowly approached him, stopping when she was directly in front of him.

"I understand, Daddy," said Hermione, giving him a small smile. "I'm just not used to you speaking to someone like that."  
Severus leaned forward and kissed her forehead as he explained, "Unfortunately, that is how I have built my reputation as a professor. I am extremely stern, and I tolerate no nonsense. I am sorry that I slipped into my old ways, Hermione. I will try to do better. Do you forgive me?"

Hermione smiled and flung her arms around Severus. Severus held her tightly as he asked, "Does this mean that I am forgiven?"

"Yes," Hermione told him. Thinking quickly, she added, "I know how you could make it up to me though."

"And how's that, you little imp?" Severus asked, raising his eyebrow at her.

"You could show me where the library is located?" Hermione asked him hopefully.

Severus considered her for a moment, and finally relented, "Very well. That seems like a harmless request. All I ask is that you not spend all your time there while at school."

Hermione simply grinned.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The morning had passed quickly for Hermione once she had been taken to the library. She had been stunned by the size of the library at Prince Manor, but she was purely blown away by the colossal size of the Hogwarts library. Her father had given her a tour and had made it a priority to emphasize that the Restricted Section was just that: Restricted. When she asked who could gain access to it and how, Severus had glared at her as he told her that only professors could look at or check out the books in this section. It was a rare occasion when N.E.W.T. level students were given permission to go into the Restricted Section, and even then, they needed a note from a professor detailing what book the student needed and the reason for the book.

That was when Severus had introduced Hermione to Madam Pince, the towering, vulture-like librarian, and told her that Madam Pince was aware that students frequently tried to gain access to the Restricted Section. She knew all their tricks and she was a seasoned pro at recognizing a forged note from a professor. Severus went on to add that should he ever find out that she had ever tried to get into the Restricted Section, she would be severely punished. Seeing the glaring frown on his face that meant he was serious, she had immediately conceded to his warning.

Now she was back in the Great Hall for lunch, sitting with Draco, Fred, and George at the Gryffindor table, listening to Draco recall the morning he had spent with Minerva.

"Surprisingly, McGonagall was an amazing player! You should have seen all the awards she's won; she even holds some records that have yet to be broken! She told me all about when she was a Chaser for the Gryffindor team, and how she had gotten injured in the last match for the Quidditch Cup," Draco was saying, ignoring his food. "Apparently, she got an awful head injury and said she didn't wake up for a while afterwards _and_ says she still can't properly remember parts of her seventh year. Then she took me to see the pitch, and it's huge! I can't wait to try out for whatever House team I'm sorted into."

"George and I thought about trying out for the Gryffindor team this year," Fred said when he saw that Draco was finished talking, and taking a bite of food.

"What positions?" Draco asked, promptly forgetting about his food again.

"Beaters," George answered him. "Since both beaters graduated last year, seems like a fitting place for us."

"Nothing would bring us more joy than getting a few smug gits in the face with a Bludger," Fred insisted.

"And since we pretty much know what the other is thinking, we have a great advantage over other teams," George went on, smiling at Fred.

"Also, Mum says we need a proper outlet for our pent-up energy," Fred continued, "because apparently our wit and humor have nothing to do with pure brilliance –"

"And more to do with the simple fact that we're a pair of wayward youth with our heads up our arses," finished George.

"Speaking of arses," Fred chimed in on a happier note, "I have the toilet seat gift wrapped and ready to send to our family."

"Already?" Hermione asked, barely touching her food since she had sat down. "You just told us about this last night. When did you do this?"

"We waste no time, Granger," George told her. "We have other brilliant plans to get on with, and other pranks to pull. However, we would still appreciate it if you let on like you know nothing, especially to the newly appointed fifth year prefect who almost lost his arse this morning in an unfortunate exploding toilet fiasco."

"You have my word," Hermione told them, giggling along with Draco who nodded his agreement to remain silent.

Immediately Draco and the twins went back to talking about Quidditch, and Hermione's thoughts again began to wander. She had a list going of people and things she wanted to research once she was able to get into the library, but she grumpily admitted to herself that she may not be able to do much, or any, research today. Her father had told her not to spend all her free time in the library, and if she was spending every moment she could there, then her family would want to know what she was up to. Not only that, but Draco would also want to know. Since she had met Draco, her family had warned her to be weary of him because of the information he may pass on to his parents. So, not only did she have to keep her family from knowing where she was all the time, but she also had to keep it from Draco too. Her list of people and topics to avoid was becoming rather extensive and overwhelming which caused her to huff an involuntary and angry sigh. There were so many issues and secrets going around that she was scared she wouldn't be able to keep her stories straight which could cause her some serious, negative consequences down the road with a number of people. No cover-up scenario she could think of seemed to come out as a win-win for her.

"What's wrong with you, Hermione?" Fred asked her after hearing her sigh and seeing that she wasn't a part of their current conversation.

"Nothing," answered Hermione, quickly coming up with an excuse. "Just thinking about class starting tomorrow. "

"Cheer up," George told her, taking another bite of his sandwich. "It'll soon be summer again."

As Hermione thought about that, she wondered where she and her family would be next year at this time. Would her Granddad be all right? Would Hogwarts still be around? Will she have blown the cover for her and her family? Will she, Draco, and the twins still be friends? There was a lot that could change in a year; she just hoped that whatever happened turned out for the better.

"Well, if you're done pushing around perfectly good food," Fred told her, pushing his empty plate away from him, "then there is someone that we want you to meet."

"She has been our muse," George took over dramatically, waving his hands and staring into the sky as though looking towards an idol, "our mentor, our inspiration! She has set the bar for current mischief makers, rivaled only by one group of men before us! Stick with us, and with her, and there won't be a passageway in Hogwarts you don't know, and no situation that you won't be able to get out of!"

Hermione and Draco glanced at each other before Draco asked excitedly, "Who is she?"

"She goes by a simple name," Fred took over, adding to the drama his brother had created, "but it is a name that will go down in history!"

"TONKS!" the twins shouted together towards one of the other House tables.

"Wotcher!" a girl yelled back.

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Up at the Head Table, Severus groaned. He saw the Weasley twins beckon a seventh-year student over and watched as Nymphadora Tonks rose from the Hufflepuff table to join them. Now not only were his children friends with the Weasley twins, but now they were going to be influenced by a much older student who was known for pranks and breaking rules. This girl's record of pranks and detentions would make Sirius Black envious. Of all the children in Hogwarts, why were the top three troublemakers attracted to his kids?

"Oh my," he heard Albus chuckling, "first the Weasley twins and now Tonks? Whatever will you do, Severus?"

At the moment, he didn't have an answer, so he merely groaned. Albus chuckled again as he reassured him, "It will be fine. Despite their propensity to get into trouble, they are all great kids."

"Rule breakers do not equate to being 'great kids' in my book," Severus countered.

"Well, I believe you may happen to be thinking of four boys in particular," Albus reminded him, peering at him over his spectacles, "but these children are not the same. Give them a chance, Severus. Besides, Tonks and Draco are cousins; perhaps Tonks will help Draco learn there are other, more positive family members he can turn to."

Severus sighed deeply at the thought, but nevertheless nodded his agreement. When he looked back at Albus, he couldn't help but notice that the older wizard had seemed to have taken a turn for the worse since that morning. Remembering that he had had a talk with Madam Spore earlier, Severus asked, "Was Phyllida able to come up with any more answers about the Founder's Elements?"

It was Albus' turn to sigh as he sadly looked to Minerva then back to Severus and answered, "No. However, she insists that there is a portrait of a person who could possibly have some answers, as he or she has been hanging around Hogwarts almost since it was founded. However, with renovations and wars and new portraits coming in over the years, it appears that this portrait has been moved to an unknown location, and she cannot find this person. If the portrait has been taken down and stored somewhere, she will be unable to communicate with this portrait since it isn't hanging on the wall. My hope is that it wasn't destroyed or misplaced. This portrait may be our only hope to solving how to secure the other elements, and if the elements possess anymore qualities that no one is aware of. It is such an ancient magic that there could be unforeseen dangers attached to these elements."

Albus sat back in his chair wearily allowing Severus and Minerva to share a concerned look. So, they had hit another dead end. All their questions and answers lay with a lost portrait that no one had seen in perhaps hundreds of years; perhaps it had even been destroyed. They turned away from each other, staring out over the students, and two students in particular. How were they going to solve this mystery? They remained silent for the remainder of their lunch, each feeling a different degree of hopelessness.

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Meanwhile, down at the Gryffindor table, Hermione was meeting a potential new friend who could help her solve her family's mystery. As soon as the twins had pointed out to her and Draco who Tonks was, Hermione had been mesmerized. She saw a rebellious teenage girl with pink hair, torn clothes, and a carefree attitude. Whoever she passed seemed to know her and wanted to give her a high-five, or wave at her. Hermione had never really had a role model before, but seeing Tonks, she felt she may have found one. Hermione felt as though this girl could do no wrong, and then it happened. As Tonks was walking towards them with a bounce in her step, and every student saying hello to her, she stepped on one of her shoelaces and tripped. She almost fell flat on her face, but she somehow miraculously recovered and righted herself before she hit the floor. Hermione looked back at the twins when she heard them burst out laughing, and Fred called out, "Get over here quick, you klutz, before you get hurt!"

Tonks gave them a sheepish smile and quickly sat down at the table. She gave the twins a crooked smile before she asked, "Did you see me almost smash my face in? I could've ended up looking something like this?"

The twins started laughing again, but when Tonks turned to face Hermione and Draco, the two younger kids let out a yelp in surprise. Her face was completely distorted as though she had hit more than the floor with her face. Her nose was crooked, one eye was crossed, a couple of teeth were missing, and one eyebrow actually seemed to be sitting higher up on her face than the other one. However, as Hermione stared at her, she watched as she morphed back to normal as though nothing had happened.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked her, completely enthralled with the girl's ability to change her features.

"I'm whatcha call a Metamorphmagus," Tonks told her grinning, "which means I can change any part of my physical appearance whenever I want, however I want. I could look like Dumbledore himself if I wanted to!"

"Really?" said Draco excitedly, that bit of information fully pulling him into this conversation. "How did you learn to do that?"

"Metamorphmagi are _born_ , not made," Tonks explained. "All I really had to do was learn to control it. Fortunately, it wasn't like learning to become an Animagus or anything."

Hermione and Draco shared a glance. They wanted to learn to become an Animagus even more now so that they could at least morph into something like Tonks could.

Tonks turned back to the twins and joked, "So, what are my two delinquent protégés up to today? Staying in trouble, I hope?"

"As always," George stated smugly, puffing his chest out, "we just wanted to introduce you to _our_ protégés, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy."

Tonks stared at Draco as she asked, "Malfoy, is it? It's nice to finally meet my cousin!"

The group stared at Tonks while Draco blurted out, "What do you mean 'cousin'?"

"I mean," Tonks replied, "that since our mothers are sisters, then that makes us first cousins."

Draco gave her a disbelieving stare as he stated, "Bellatrix doesn't have any children, though."

" _Bellatrix_?" cried Tonks, "No, not that deranged bat! Didn't your mother ever tell you that she had another sister?" At Draco's silent head shake, Tonks continued, "I guess that makes sense. My mum did go against the family's prejudices and marry a Muggleborn named Ted Tonks. So, apparently, I need to introduce you to your mum's _other_ older sister, Andromeda. They haven't spoken in years, which I suppose is what happens when you disown someone."

The group was silent as they all took turns sending each other awkward glances. Finally, Tonks spoke up, "Let's do something fun. Twins, let's show Hermione and Draco around Hogwarts, and to lift our spirits, let's make Filch regret even more his decision to come work at Hogwarts. That always cheers me up!"

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Outside of going to the zoo, Hermione couldn't remember a more fun day. At one point, she even forgot that she was annoyed at not being able to get to the library to start her research. She had immensely enjoyed walking through Hogwarts, with the side tours of a few hidden rooms and passageways, and then walking the Hogwarts' grounds. Tonks and the twins had introduced them to the Giant Squid in Black Lake and they had even been joined at the lake by Hagrid who was doing a yearly examination of the squid along with Professor Kettleburn's expert help. Both Hermione and Draco couldn't help but stare at the professor in amazement though as they took in full stock of how many of his limbs and other body parts he was missing.

When they had finally said goodbye to Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn, Tonks had reminded them that they should greet Filch with a proper prank to get the school year going, and with Hermione and Draco hidden from sight, she and the twins had thrown a few lit firecrackers into the Caretaker's office. However, the prank immediately went south when the firecrackers somehow also lit the other firecrackers Filch had confiscated over the years, causing part of his office to explode. Hermione, Draco, Tonks, and the twins turned tail and ran when Filch and Mrs. Norris, a few older students, and professors showed up at the scene, spraying the fire with jets of water from their wands.

But the prank turned funny again as they saw one of the students accidentally drop his wand, water still spraying from the tip of it, drenching Mrs. Norris, Filch, and the others who were helping to put out the fire. In response, Mrs. Norris attacked the student who had soaked her, causing Filch to try and pry his cat off the screaming student who was attempting to get the angry feline away from him with a few swift kicks. However, the kicks missed the irate cat, and only hit various parts of Filch's body, making him curse in pain.

Minerva arrived on the chaotic scene, immediately canceling the spell on the ever-spraying wand, and transforming into a cat herself to fight Mrs. Norris off the student she was still mercilessly attacking. After a few swipes, hisses, and yowls, Mrs. Norris finally bolted away with Filch calling and limping after her. When Mrs. Norris had disappeared, Minerva transformed back into a woman, and sternly dispersed the students who had stopped to watch the madness. Not long after, Severus arrived on the scene, and together, both professors finished extinguishing the small fire in Filch's office and repairing the damage as though nothing had happened.

When there were no further sounds coming from the corridor, the group cautiously emerged from a room hidden behind a tapestry. Having heard and taken turns peeping out from the behind the tapestry, the twins and Tonks concluded that that was a very successful prank indeed. Fred turned to the two wide-eyed children and told them, "This is why we look up to her so. Who else could cause so much stress with three little firecrackers? Only Tonks!"

Tonks sheepishly grinned at Hermione and Draco and merely shrugged at the praise.

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When it was dinner time, Hermione and Draco walked in with Tonks and the twins. They had all planned to eat together at the Hufflepuff table so that Tonks could introduce the children to some of her other friends in her House, but when they entered the Great Hall, they saw Minerva beckoning them up to the Head Table to eat dinner with them. Slightly disappointed, Hermione and Draco said goodbye to Tonks and the twins and headed up to sit with their guardians. Without a word, they automatically sat where they had at breakfast with Draco between Severus and Albus, and Hermione between Albus and Minerva.

When Hermione had seated herself, Albus leaned over and quietly asked her, "How was your day? Did you have fun with the older students?"

"Yes!" Hermione immediately replied, grinning at him. "They showed us all around the castle and the grounds! I got to pet the Giant Squid too!"

Albus' eyes were twinkling as he asked, "Did they show you to Filch's office as well?"  
Hermione gave him a puzzling look. Did that mean he knew? She and Draco had talked with Tonks and the twins after the incident, and they had, of course, asked them not to tell.

"We went by his office as they were showing us around," she answered. "Why?"

"There seemed to be quite a scene there earlier today," Albus told her, looking at her over the rims of his glasses. "It seemed to have been a prank turned disaster, and I am familiar with one student in particular who has a talent for that sort of thing."

Hermione shrugged and looked down at her empty plate. She was just making friends; she wasn't about to tell on them. She heard Albus chuckle and whisper to her, "It's all right, pet. However, please be careful and do behave yourself. I think the only positive aspect of that event is that Mimi was able to put Mrs. Norris in her place which she has no regrets over."

It was only then that Hermione noticed that Minerva had scratch marks here and there over her hands and face from her altercation with Mrs. Norris. Hermione wondered how Mrs. Norris came out in the end if her grandmother looked like that. When Minerva noticed that Hermione was looking at her, Minerva told her, "You had better eat dinner, kitten. You have a big day tomorrow, and your father strongly expressed to us that you not miss meals, or you will be sitting next to him so that he can monitor what you eat."

Without needing further prompting, Hermione began to fill her plate.

As Hermione began to eat, Albus noted that Draco was merely pushing food around his plate. Glancing at Severus who had also noticed the boy's behavior, Albus asked, "Is something the matter, Draco?"

Draco stopped what he was doing as he answered dutifully, "No, sir."

Not believing him, Albus said, "After dinner, I would like to speak to you in private in my office."

"Just us?" Draco squeaked, his grey eyes wide with concern.

"Just the two of us," answered Albus, winking at him. "I am not as menacing as I seem."

Draco nodded, but the thought of this private meeting with the most powerful wizard of the century did not help increase his appetite.

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When dinner had ended, Minerva took Hermione to her quarters, and Severus had gone to his own quarters to enjoy some peace and quiet. Albus had led a nervous Draco back to his office, and the two were now sitting across Albus' desk from one another, Draco waiting for Albus to begin the talk.

Albus couldn't help but chuckle as he said in a calm, deep voice, "This is just a talk, Draco, not torture."

"I'm sorry, sir," Draco said in a small, high pitched voice.

Smiling at the young boy, Albus began, "How are you feeling about being here at Hogwarts?"

"I love it," answered Draco. "I'm having a lot of fun with Hermione, the twins, and Tonks."

"Yes," agreed Albus, "I was pleased to see that you had met your cousin."

"So, she really is my cousin?" Draco asked with a frown.

"Yes," Albus nodded. "Bellatrix is the oldest, then Andromeda, and then your mother. I taught them all when they were students here."

"What happened between them?" Draco asked, his frown replaced with a curious expression.

"From what I understand, your aunt Andromeda fell in love with Ted Tonks, who is a Muggleborn," he explained. "Your grandmother followed old traditions and forbid that anyone less than that of pure-blood, let alone a Muggleborn, marry any of her daughters. When Andromeda defied her family, she was shunned. It is my understanding that they haven't spoken since she and Ted eloped."

"My mother never even mentioned having any other sibling besides Bellatrix," Draco thought back.

"When your grandmother shunned Andromeda, she did not allow anyone to speak of her. I'm sure your mother did not wish to lose favor with her family as well," Albus explained sadly. "She saw first hand what crossing her mother meant."

Draco was silent for a while before he asked barely above a whisper, "So, then my family isn't all bad?"

Albus considered Draco for a while. For children Draco's and Hermione's age, all issues were simply black and white. There weren't very many variations of grey in some situations. Albus didn't wish to drag Draco's family through the mud as his mother was trying to amend for her past mistakes; yet, Draco's father was still blindly following old ways and traditions to maintain his status in society, even when it meant hurting others. Even looking past Draco's immediate family, there was a mixture of those who still chose to do wrong, and others who had somehow broken the mold and had escaped their family's deeply rooted prejudices. For Albus, there was but one answer, and one that he hoped would positively shape Draco's blossoming character.

"No, Draco," said Albus. "Your family isn't all bad. There are some who have found the inner strength to defy their family's prejudices and come out the other side having found love and support from others to help them through."

"Do you think I can be like that?" Draco asked, staring at floor.

Albus' eyes were twinkling as he stood and joined Draco on the other side of his desk. He sat in the vacant chair beside Draco, like he had with the boys mother, and said confidently, "I know you can. You have your godfather here who loves you and wants to help you make good choices. You have a good friend in Hermione who can keep you on a good path. You also have Minerva who has found a soft spot for you, and who is an excellent role model when it comes to balancing values. Lastly, you have me, and I am more than willing to be someone you can come to for help and guidance. Now, you have found additional positive support in two of the Weasleys and your cousin. You have a lot of people who will support you and fight with you. Just because most of your family believes something, doesn't mean you also have to believe in it."

Draco was no longer staring at the floor, but was looking into Albus' eyes, searching for any signs that he was lying to him. When he saw no evidence of deception, Draco gave the Headmaster an uneasy smile. Albus laughed, putting his hand on Draco's shoulder as he chuckled, "You'll be just fine, my boy. Just fine."

"How are you so sure?" Draco asked him in a disbelieving tone.

"It is our choices that define who we are, Draco," Albus explained gently. "Your choices in the face of hardship and adversity, as well as in the everyday, show your character. We aren't only our abilities or lineage."

Draco gave Albus a genuine smile as he said, "Thank you, sir. I'll try to make good choices."

"That's all I ask," Albus told him. "I know you will do well. Tomorrow will be the first day to reinvent yourself because the wizarding world will initially see you as only your surname, but you can change that."

"I am a bit nervous about school," confessed Draco. "I know you just said people will first see me for my surname, but I don't want to be made fun of because of it."

"I understand," said Albus, "there was a time when I was judged on my name."

"Really?" Draco asked shocked. "Was it bad?"

"For a while it had a negative connotation," Albus allowed, "but I worked hard to change that, and I believe that I have."

"Ya, you have," Draco affirmed. "I don't think anything bad when I hear your name."

Albus laughed as he said, "I am happy to hear that!"

Draco was laughing a bit too as Albus finally said, "Well, I do not wish to keep you late on a school night. I will call Severus to come and collect you."

"All right," relented Draco. As Albus was turning towards the fireplace to Floo call Severus, he heard a small voice say, "Thank you for the talk, Professor. I'm glad you believe in me."

Albus' eyes were twinkling as he said, "I really do, my boy. I really do."

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After Severus had come to get Draco, Albus had alerted Minerva that she and Hermione could return to their quarters. Not long after, Hermione bounded into his office asking breathlessly, "Is Draco all right? He looked like he was being led to his death when you brought him up here after dinner."

"I don't believe there is any permanent damage," Albus answered, rather amused at her description. "I am not sure when I gained the reputation as the scariest professor in Hogwarts."

"I wouldn't say you're the _scariest_ professor –"

"Good because that title rightfully belongs to me," a deep, silky voice stated from behind Hermione.

Immediately recognizing the voice, Hermione whirled around and ran to her father, hugging his middle. Severus returned her hug, pleased to see that Hermione harbored no ill feelings towards him because of his behavior after breakfast. Severus ignored Albus' and Minerva's knowing smiles as he told his daughter, "I have come to tuck you into bed. Draco is already tucked away peacefully and has hopefully fallen asleep. Say goodnight to your grandparents."

Hermione detached herself from Severus and took turns hugging and saying goodnight to Minerva and Albus. Having done her due diligence, she followed Severus into her room to start her bedtime routine. When she was finished, she was happy to see her father sitting on the edge of her bed with a book to read. Hermione threw herself in bed, and cuddled into Severus' side, waiting for him to begin the chapter. However, before he could start, Hermione asked softly, "Daddy, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Cub," Severus complied, closing the book. "What is it?"

"Could I have a Dreamless Sleep potion tonight?"

Severus considered her request before he said, "You know how I feel about this, Hermione. What is the reason you want one tonight?"

"Because the first day of school is tomorrow," Hermione told him, her puppy dog eyes forming as she spoke, "and I don't want to be tired."

"Understandable," Severus conceded, "however, every night after that will also be a school night as well. You can't take a Dreamless Sleep potion every night. I want you to continue talking through your nightmares whether that is with me or Granddad or Mimi. It is important to be able to talk through them so that they will become less and less of a problem for you. I will give you one tonight, but that is all. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Daddy," Hermione said nodding. She was relieved to know that she wouldn't have a nightmare tonight. Not only did she want a good night's sleep, but she didn't want to talk about another nightmare. She wanted a break from talking about her feelings.

Severus nodded and stood, walking briskly through the door that joined her room with his and disappearing. He was gone for only a moment, and then returned with a small vial in hand. She recognized the potion as the Dreamless Sleep. He resumed his position on the side of her bed and handed her the vial to drink when she was ready. She wouldn't drink it just yet as she wanted to hear the chapter. He began reading, his deep voice lulling her to sleep. Before she was too tired to drink her potion, she uncorked it, and before she gulped it down, said to her father, "Goodnight, Daddy. I love you."

"Good night, Cub. I love you too. I will talk to you tomorrow morning before your first lesson," Severus said, kissing the top of her head.

"OK," she said then downed the potion. Severus took the empty vial from her, and moments later she was asleep. The corner of Severus' mouth quirked up as he watched her fall asleep, then quietly removed himself from her room to join Albus and Minerva for a moment before he retired for the evening himself.

Albus and Minerva had been talking quietly amongst themselves when Severus entered the office. Seeing the vial in Severus' hand, Albus asked, "Was it a Dreamless Sleep potion kind of night?"

"She didn't want to be tired for her first day," he explained. "I told her that this was all she was getting. I still want her to talk through her nightmares."

"Yes," Albus agreed, "I can imagine she would be hesitant to have another nightmare after her one last night."

"She had one last night?" Severus questioned, frowning at Albus. "What was this nightmare about?"

"About me and my health I'm afraid," Albus explained. "I felt her put up a Silencing Charm, and when I canceled it I heard her crying for me, begging me not to leave her. Despite seeing my condition when the first element was removed, she knows something is amiss even if she doesn't know what that something is."

Severus closed his eyes for a moment, but then heard movement from Minerva. He opened his eyes to see Minerva going around to Albus' side of his desk, placing her hand over his as she asked gently, "By the way, how are you feeling, love? You seemed better this morning, but how have you been as the day has progressed?"

Albus squeezed her hand as he replied, "I've not been nearly as weary today as the previous days. However, that may have more to do with the fact that I didn't have much to get done today whereas the past week I've had to work hard to get term started and other issues sorted. Today I could rest or do minimal work."

Minerva nodded as she commented, "Then that may be what you have to do until we can get this mystery solved. You'll have to pace yourself, Albus, and we are all aware of how well you do that."

Albus winked at her as he agreed, "You're right, Tabby. I am terrible at pacing myself, but this will be a humbling experience as I learn how."

Feeling as though there was nothing more he could contribute to the conversation, Severus asked, "Is there anything either of you are needing from me before I return to my quarters for the evening?"

"I don't believe so," Albus answered. "Pomona is patrolling the corridors tonight, and there aren't any emergencies that need our attention. I think you are free to leave for the comfort of your bed."

"Very well," said Severus, bowing slightly to them as he bade them good night.

He decided to cut through Hermione's room for the shortcut directly to his bedroom. As Severus passed by her peacefully sleeping form, he stopped to bring the covers back up around her as she had kicked them off, and they were now down around her knees. He kissed her forehead and lightly stroked her hair before he silently left her room, hoping that this school year turned out to be all right for all of them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! So sorry for the delay! I had another case of writer's block, but also working more hours. However, this chapter is pretty long, so I'm hoping that makes up a little for the long wait. I'll make this short so that you can get reading, so happy reading!**

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Hermione awoke the next morning feeling very rested. She was content as she stretched and yawned to get herself more awake. However, it only took her a second to remember that today was the first day of school. Excitedly, she flung the covers off her and scrambled to her bathroom to get ready. Usually children were excited or anxious for the first day of school. It meant that they were another year older, they got to see their friends again, and, for a few of them, were anxious to get back into their studies. Hermione's level of excitement, however, far surpassed any of the usual first-day-of-school jitters. She was starting with a clean slate. She was starting school with friends who weren't afraid of her or thought she was strange. She had the support of her father and grandparents rather than the constant reminder from her Muggle parents of how much of a worthless freak she was. She was also in a new school, a school of magic no less, where she could learn new subjects that, last year at this time, she had thought were mere fantasy. She wasn't just starting the first day of school; she was starting the first day of her new life.

Meanwhile, in Albus' and Minerva's quarters, it hadn't been as restful a night for the Dumbledores as it had been for Hermione. Despite Albus having had a good day prior, that night had been anguish. Albus had been ill all throughout the night, and at one point had gotten so bad that Minerva had fetched Severus who had brought along potions from his personal stores to treat the ailing man. Albus had been slow to make any improvements, but he eventually fell asleep around two in the morning. Severus had returned to his rooms to get as much sleep as possible, and Minerva had slept some in-between checking on Albus. Now she watched, with one tired eye halfway open, as the clock on her bedside table changed to seven in the morning.

She sighed heavily as she wearily hoisted herself out of bed and staggered to the bathroom. She looked at her haggard reflection in the mirror and tutted to herself, "This won't do." Reaching into the medicine cabinet, she pulled out a vial with the words "Wide-Eyed" written on it, then gulped it down. She watched in the mirror as her dark circles went away, her dull eyes sparked with light, and her cheeks returned to a healthy, rosy color. She also felt her limbs lighten up and feel less like dead weight, and her thoughts became clearer. She was much happier with the woman whom she saw in the mirror now. This woman looked alert and alive. While Minerva always preferred to look well by getting a good sleep, there were times when she would have to stay up late, or she simply couldn't sleep. That was when she would use a Wide-Eyed potion to help her feel energized. After the events of last night, she had desperately needed the boost.

She finished getting ready and when she returned to her bedroom, saw Albus sitting up on the edge of the bed, bracing himself. Minerva immediately went to him and sternly asked, "What do you think you're doing, Albus Dumbledore?"

"Getting ready for breakfast, my dear," he answered gruffly. "I have never missed the first day of term, neither while I was teaching nor as Headmaster, and today will be no exception."

Minerva's hard features softened as she watched the most powerful wizard of the age struggle to stand. She supported him to the bathroom and assisted him in getting dressed. Merely going through his morning routine had exhausted him, and almost pleading with him, she said, "Love, you need to rest. I know you've never missed the first day, but you can't go down to the Great Hall like this. Why are you exerting yourself?"

With his hand on the doorknob, ready to go sit in his office, he explained, "Today is Hermione's and Draco's first day of classes at Hogwarts. While I realize it is only primary classes, they are still attending Hogwarts, and they are excited. I want to be there for them and support them."

As he exited their room, Minerva followed behind him, carefully watching him as he crossed the room to his desk, and heavily sat in his chair. She gently took his hand and said, "That is sweet, Albus, but Severus and I can support them, can't we?"

"I believe both of you also had an eventful night taking care of me," Albus pointed out, but taking another look at Minerva noticed that she looked too rested after last night. "How do you look so beautiful this morning? Not that you aren't always, but I've seen you after some of your late nights."

"You were _so_ close to having me on your side," Minerva stated, shaking her head at his backwards compliment. "I took a Wide-Eyed potion to avoid the attention that three professors looking like Inferi at breakfast would bring. I'm sure Severus has taken some too."

Albus looked hopeful as he said, "Perhaps I could take some of that as well."

"I would consult Severus first," Minerva warned. "After all the potions he gave you last night, you may not want to take any others."

Albus was about to protest when Hermione's door opened, and out zoomed the little girl, latching onto Minerva. "Good morning, Mimi!" Then catching sight of Albus behind his desk, Hermione beamed, "Good morning, Granddad!"

"Good morning, Hermione," Minerva chuckled, happy to be receiving some of the girl's affection. "Are you excited about today?"

"Yes!" Hermione squealed. "Do we have class with you today?"

"You do," Minerva answered, taking Hermione by the shoulders, and leading her to Albus' desk where the stack of Gryffindor time tables lay waiting. Minerva picked the one off the very top and handed it to Hermione. "This is your timetable for all of your classes. It tells you what day, what time, which professor, and which classroom. This morning you have a free period, then class with me. After my class you have lunch, and then you have class with Professor Sprout and then with Madam Hooch. Then there is dinner, and afterwards is when you do your coursework."

Hermione was reading her timetable and read aloud, "I have grammar with you, basic herbology with Professor Sprout, and Physical Education with Madam Hooch." Then a sudden thought came to her and she exclaimed, "I don't know where any of the classrooms are!"

"I can assist you with finding them, pet," Albus spoke up, eyes twinkling as Hermione smiled at him.

"Thanks, Granddad," she said relieved as she circled around to the other side of his desk to hug him good morning too. However, when she was close enough to him, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes, the lack of color to his skin, and that his posture seemed to be of someone who hadn't slept in years. Hermione stopped short of his reach as she took in the sight of him and tentatively asked, "Are you all right? You don't look so well."

"I am fine, my dear," Albus answered, his voice husky with fatigue. "I didn't sleep very well last night is all."

Hermione eyed him wearily. Her Mimi had said that she had a free period after breakfast. From what her timetable had said, that free period would last an hour and a half. Today with her friends in class, Draco hopefully occupied, and after her Granddad showed them where their classes were, Hermione would do research today. From the looks of her Granddad, she needed to find answers and quickly.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Severus swore under his breath when his alarm clock sounded. It had been a long night treating Albus. Usually, Severus was well equipped to give someone a potion or two based on a couple of symptoms they were experiencing; however, Albus' symptoms had to do with an ancient magic and were ever present. His symptoms were harder to treat and had called for some of Severus' more potent concoctions. After ingesting all those powerful potions, Severus would be surprised if he saw the old man up and at breakfast.

Severus' joints popped and cracked as he slowly stumbled to his bathroom; perhaps he would be surprised if _he_ made it to breakfast. As he took in his reflection, he started questioning whether he was an old man himself. He shouldn't look as weary, with bags under his eyes, and his skin already too pale. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face seemed to have somehow developed more lines in it. He couldn't make an appearance in the Great Hall looking like this. Not one to use this potion on a regular basis, Severus reached into the cabinet under his sink and found a Wide-Eyed potion, and this one was extra strength. He quickly uncorked the vial and downed the potion, the bitterness making him shutter. Despite the awful taste, he felt as though he had slept a full eight hours as his mind cleared, and his back stopped hurting. He watched the transformation in the mirror from a man who looked as though he had gotten run over by the Knight Bus to a man that appeared to be a healthy thirty-year-old with more of a spring in his step.

Having gotten himself feeling much better, Severus continued getting ready for the first day of term. Twenty minutes later, he was sitting in his recliner reading the Daily Prophet in front of his fire place when he heard Draco's bedroom door open then close, and out ran the boy skidding to a halt beside Severus' chair.

"Good morning, Uncle Severus!" Draco greeted him with a grin on his face.

"Good morning, Draco," Severus greeted him in return, the corner of his mouth quirked up. "You seem to have slept well."

"Not really," Draco answered still grinning, "I've been up forever waiting for my alarm to go off. I was so excited about classes today!"

Severus snorted in amusement as he answered, "We shall see how excited you are to get to class as the term progresses. For which class are you most excited?"

"If I was learning magic, I would definitely be excited for Defense Against the Dark Arts," Draco replied immediately, "but since these are just basic Muggle courses, I'm just excited to be surrounded by magic! I guess science is cool."

"Well, I am teaching one of your science courses," Severus replied, "so I hope you find it 'cool'."

Draco's eyes widened as he asked, "Are you going to be teaching us potions?"

"No." Seeing the disappointment on his godson's face, he quickly amended, "However, I was planning to teach you the different potions ingredients, and how they react with other ingredients in general. But I will not be letting you brew any complicated potions. However, we could do Muggle chemistry demonstrations; such as when you make eggs bounce or create crystals."

"You can't make eggs bounce!" Draco protested. "They would just break!"

"With the proper Muggle chemicals, I can make an egg bounce," Severus replied smugly. "Muggles are not as stupid or backwards as wizards make them out to be. They have come up with amazing feats of science that are both lifesaving and utterly devastating."

"But we can do magic, so that makes us better, doesn't it?" Draco asked somewhat defiantly.

Severus never broke eye contact with his godson as he lowered his paper and folded it. Sitting up straight, he said, "No, we are not better. We were merely born with a unique ability to be able to wave a wand and have things happen. Muggles have science as their magic. They have found ways to mirror most of what we are able to do with the flick of a wrist; it is just that their method is more involved. We are no better than anyone else. We are just unique."

Severus could see the wheels turning in the boy's head as he stood from his chair. Taking Draco's shoulder, Severus stated, "With it being your first day, you will want to eat a well-balanced breakfast, and we will meet with Minerva as she has your timetable."

Still thinking over his godfather's words, Draco silently followed him to the Great Hall.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Like they had the previous day, the Dumbledores, Hermione, Severus, and Draco met in the Great Hall for breakfast and sat in their usual places. Hermione noticed that a lot more students were at breakfast earlier as opposed to yesterday, and they were all dressed in their school robes as they had been at the Welcome Feast. While all the students' robes boasted their House color and crest, Hermione's and Draco's were all black with the Hogwarts crest.

Albus and Minerva had greeted Draco when he had arrived in the Great Hall with Severus while Severus had discreetly yet lovingly greeted his daughter. Hermione knew that while they were in the public eye she couldn't greet him good morning as she usually would, but she could tell that her father was trying to tell her good morning from the slight quirk of his mouth and the soft look in his eyes. When the family had settled in to eat their breakfast, Minerva wasted no time in passing Draco's timetable down the table for the boy to look over. Draco caught Hermione's eye and she nodded that she had the same schedule as he did. Not that either feared they would have different schedules, but it was reassuring to confirm that they were indeed together.

It wasn't long before both Minerva and Severus, along with a short, curly haired woman in gardening robes and a short man with a moustache, were up and passing out timetables to the students. Minerva had gone to the Gryffindor table; Severus had gone to the Slytherins; the woman had gone to the Hufflepuff table; while the man had proceeded to the Ravenclaws. Hermione looked up at her grandfather and he explained quietly, "The female professor is Professor Sprout and the male professor is Professor Flitwick. Like Mimi and your father who are the Heads of Gryffindor and Slytherin, Professor Sprout is the Head of Hufflepuff and Professor Flitwick is the Head of Ravenclaw."

"Professor Sprout is one of the professors I have today for Basic Herbology," Hermione remembered, examining her timetable.

"Correct," said Albus. "She will be teaching you Herbology when you officially start Hogwarts. This year Professor Flitwick will be teaching you Literature, but he also teaches the subject of Charms."

As they watched the Heads make their way down each table, there was a sudden fluttering sound, and before Hermione could ask Albus what that sound was, many owls flooded into the Great Hall. Hermione watched in amazement as the owls dropped packages and letters with great accuracy or landed on the tables next to students. Each owl seemed to know who their parcel was intended for as they swooped low over the tables, somehow avoiding crashing into each other. As she observed the organized chaos, she noticed that three owls were headed towards her. Not knowing how she should receive the mail, she allowed her small parcel to land on the table in front of her, and she saw that her grandfather and Draco had done the same. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Draco rip into his package that was the same size as hers and saw her grandfather thumb through the large bundle of letters that had landed in front of him. She curiously examined the package she had received and wondered who could have sent her something. She knew for a fact it wasn't from her parents, and had her family wanted to give her something they would have simply given it to her.

"Who's that from, Hermione?"

Hermione looked over at Draco to see him looking expectantly at the parcel in her hands. "Are you waiting for Christmas or something? Open it!"

Albus was peering at her too, his eyes twinkling as she tentatively peeled back the brown paper to reveal a beautifully embossed, brown leather-bound journal. In the center of the cover was the Hogwarts crest surrounded by what looked like Celtic symbols. She ran her hand over the cover, and then opened it to see if anything was inside as a letter fell out into her lap. Carefully setting the journal on the table, she opened the letter and read:

Dear Hermione,

This journal is for you to record your thoughts and feelings as you begin your adventure at Hogwarts. Journaling always helped me sort out what I was going through. Hopefully it is a practice that will help you as well. Also, when you are sorted into a House next year, the cover will change to reflect your chosen House.

I hope you have a wonderful first day of classes, and good luck this year. I am sure I will be seeing more of you. Take care of yourself and keep yourself out of trouble. Help keep Draco out of trouble too. If you need anything, let me know.

Best wishes,

Narcissa Malfoy

Hermione passed the note to Albus to read as she heard Draco say, "I got a journal too except mine's black. Also, my Mum wants to talk to me tonight to ask how my first day went! Is there any way I can talk to her, Professor?"

Albus thought for a minute while he read Narcissa's note to Hermione and answered, "Yes, you can use the Floo in my office, Draco. After dinner should be fine."

Draco beamed at him, then taking a quill out of his book bag, quickly scrawled a response onto the letter his mother had sent him. He tied it to the owl's leg, and with a soft hoot, flew out of the Great Hall. Not long afterwards, the Heads rejoined them at the table. Minerva noticed Hermione's new journal as Severus noticed Draco's. "Who is that from, kitten?" Minerva asked.

"Draco's Mum," Hermione answered showing her grandmother the note that came with it. Minerva and Albus made eye contact as Minerva stated, "Well, that was very thoughtful of her. Wasn't it, Albus?"

"Indeed." Albus answered, twirling a strand of his beard in thought.

"Well, Severus," Minerva said changing the subject, "we have ten minutes before classes begin if you would like to have a quick word with someone?"

Severus nodded as Minerva nudged Albus to help her distract Draco while Severus had a quick talk with Hermione. Severus motioned for Hermione to follow him and led her through a door that was behind the Head Table. Once the door had closed behind her, Severus had her close to him in a hug.

"Have a wonderful first day, Cub," Severus whispered to her. "You will be fine, and I want to hear about it tonight."

"Thanks, Daddy," Hermione said, returning his hug. "Draco's Mum wants to talk to him tonight too. Granddad said he could use the Floo in his office."

"We will talk as I'm putting you to bed then," Severus stated. He wanted to be present to hear what Draco told his mother, and he would bet that was also the reason Albus had offered his office.

Hermione nodded as Severus continued, "I love you, Hermione. Please know that. No matter how I may have to interact with you in the corridors or classroom, know that I love you so much. It's you and me against the world. All right?"

"I love you too. I understand," Hermione said as she hugged him harder. "You have a good first day too and remember to be nicer to Gryffindors."

"My first class today is second year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws," Severus remembered. "We shall see how it goes."

"I have a free period," Hermione said. "Granddad is going to show us where our classes for today are, then I'm going to the library."

"Please be mindful of the time while you are there," Severus told her sternly. "I'll not have you late to your first class, especially as it is with Mimi."

"I won't," Hermione promised crossing her heart.

Severus snorted, "Be off with you, Imp. Be good today!"

He heard her giggling as she opened the door and answered over her shoulder, "I'm always good!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After breakfast had ended, Albus made good on his promise to show the children where their classes were for that day. After giving them a brief talk about being good for their professors, and a reminder that he wanted to know at dinner how classes had gone, he let them take off to enjoy a free period before heading to Minerva's classroom for a grammar lesson.

Albus was heading towards his office when he rounded a corner and stopped short. He saw himself sitting next to a pair of fifth year Hufflepuffs whom, by the sound of the conversation, the fake Dumbledore had caught kissing in the corridor. He listened as his twin told them that while young love was to be cherished, it shouldn't necessarily be seen in the halls between classes. Albus had to agree with the imposter, but realizing who was impersonating him, decided to have his own bit of fun.

"Now promise me this won't happen again," fake Dumbledore said.

"Yes, Professor." The couple stood to leave but was then joined on the bench by another Dumbledore.

Albus looked at the couple and said, "I have eyes everywhere, you know, so I will know if it does happen again."

The young Hufflepuffs looked confused and scared as the fake Dumbledore chimed in, "You do not want the third Dumbledore giving you the lecture on the Birds and Bees."

Albus tried not to laugh as he explained, "Yes, that could get uncomfortable for all of us. Before anymore Dumbledores join us, I expect you head to your class or your Common Room until you have class."

Both teenagers nodded and quickly jumped off the bench before they could be cornered by anymore Headmasters as the fake Dumbledore yelled, "Make good choices or I'll tell your parents!"

"All right, Miss Tonks," Albus turned to the person pretending to be him once the Hufflepuffs were out of earshot. "You can shift back now."

"It's just Tonks," the fake Dumbledore told him as she morphed back into herself. Albus smiled at the teenager who was smiling meekly at him in return.

"I presume you have a free period now?" Albus peered at her over his spectacles.

Tonks nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Come with me then," Albus said as he stood from the bench. "I would like to talk with you in private."

Tonks remained silent as she followed the real Headmaster to his office. Albus shook his head as he thought of all the times Tonks had visited with him because of all the trouble she had gotten into with the Hogwarts Caretaker, Argus Filch. Filch had demanded numerous times that he wanted to see Tonks expelled for all the grief she gave him and his cat, Mrs. Norris. However, Albus had always refused. He was familiar with Tonks' family, and how her mother had been disowned by her family for marrying a Muggleborn man. Albus had always admired Andromeda Black for standing by her beliefs, even though it had cost her everything she had ever known. He was not going to prevent her only child from graduating from Hogwarts and making something of herself that would better the wizarding world; however, Tonks didn't have any plans for when she graduated. That was something Albus wanted to help her sort out.

Once they had arrived in Albus' office, Albus sat behind his desk and gestured for Tonks to sit in either chair opposite him. When she was comfortable, Albus smiled at her, his eyes twinkling as he began, "You are starting your last year of Hogwarts. While you have plenty of friends and staff who will be sad to see you go, this is an exciting time for you. Over your summer holiday did you give any thought as to what you would like to do when you graduate?"

"Um," Tonks said as she fidgeted slightly in her seat. "Not really."

Albus continued smiling at her as he explained, "Your professors tell me that you have done exceptionally well in all of your courses, especially in Defense Against the Dark Arts. You scored high marks in all your courses in your O.W.L.S., and this year if you score high marks in your N.E.W.T.S. then the career possibilities for you are endless. I saw from your records earlier this summer that you are taking advanced classes for D.A.D.A., Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, and Astrology. Are you sure there aren't any career options in which you are slightly interested in exploring?"

Albus' eyes twinkled as he watched Tonks' hair turn colors as she seriously considered his question. After a minute she shrugged, "I've considered maybe…being an Auror."

"That would certainly be a career in which you could be well suited for," Albus answered. "I know she is not your Head of House, but Professor McGonagall could explain to you the rigorous training and schooling needed to become an Auror. She became one after she graduated from Hogwarts."

"Seriously?" Tonks asked disbelievingly. "All I can picture her as is a professor."

Albus chuckled as he said, "Yes, while she has been a professor longer than she was an Auror, and is quite remarkable at both professions, I would ask her for help if that is something you want to seriously consider for yourself. She could give you a very good idea of what to expect and what would be expected of you. Now, off you go."

Tonks smiled as she stood and headed for the door. Once there, she stopped and turning to Albus, she asked, "She's not going to stare me down or snap at me for asking her, is she?"

Albus chuckled, "No, she won't. Becoming an Auror is about facing your fears. She will be delighted to help you, Tonks. Ask her before or after a class you have with her. However, the sooner you ask her the better."

Tonks nodded, "Yes, sir." She then closed the door behind her leaving Albus alone smiling after her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hermione, why are we in the library?" Draco asked exasperated.

"Well, I wanted to come to the library to do some research," Hermione explained quietly, slowly walking amongst the rows of hundreds of thousands of books, "and you followed me."

"I guess I could read up on some Animagus techniques," Draco grunted. "If I'm going to be here."

"No one is forcing you to stay here," Hermione explained to him. "You won't hurt my feelings if you decide to go outside or do something else instead."

Secretly, Hermione did want him to go somewhere else. She was hoping to compile a list of books that may help her find answers to her Granddad's problem, and it would be easier if Draco wasn't around, so she wouldn't have to constantly lie to him. It wasn't that she couldn't lie, she had done plenty of that with her parents, it was that she didn't want to have to do it to Draco. However, because of the doubt her family had about trusting him, she had to have doubts as well.

"No," said Draco. "I don't mind hanging out with you. I just don't know what you could possibly be researching already. We don't have any homework yet. What are you researching?"

"Hogwarts," answered Hermione.

"Hogwarts?" Draco questioned. "What on earth for?"

She sighed. She couldn't tell him. At least, not the whole truth. "I'm researching Hogwarts. If Fred, George, and Tonks are going to have us going through secret passageways, rooms, and towers, I'd like to have at least some knowledge of the castle should we ever need to escape or fend for ourselves. Not that I think anything bad would happen necessarily; I just like to have all my options covered. Besides, this castle is so old, I may find something out that not even those three know about yet."

Draco considered her for a bit before he shrugged and sat down at the table nearest them. "All right. If you find anything interesting, let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to be reading about Animagi."

She nodded, glad that he didn't question her too much. As she walked away to find books on Hogwarts, she whispered loudly to him over her shoulder, "Let's not forget the time. I don't think Professor McGonagall would be too pleased with us if we were late to our first ever class…and with her!"

The only response she received was a very loud "Shhhhhhh!" from Madam Pince.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Minerva glanced down at her watch again for what felt like the hundredth time. There was only five minutes before class started, and she heard no footsteps or voices out in the corridor to suggest that her two youngest students were approaching her classroom. Albus had told Hermione he would show her where they would be having classes today, and she especially knew not to be late. Granted they did have a little time before class began, but she expected them to be here by now. Students had fifteen minutes between classes to ensure they got where they were going in case their next class was far from their current one. Minerva wasn't entirely sure what the children had done with their free period, but with only two minutes left until class started, she was getting a little worried.

With a minute left to go, she was ready to Floo Albus from her office when she heard quick footsteps coming down the corridor. A few seconds later, two children burst through her doors, scrambling to their seats in the front of the class and panting as they fell onto the benches. She stared at them with one eyebrow arched as she waited for them to catch their breath. Once their breathing had returned somewhat to normal, Minerva turned her glare to her granddaughter for an explanation as to why they had come in so close under the wire.

"Are you going to make a habit of this?" asked Minerva sternly.

"No," Hermione answered for the both of them, "we were in the library and lost track of time."

Minerva's glare softened a little as she explained, "You both have to be more responsible. You are held to a higher standard because you are the children of professors. You are the examples which your classmates should follow. I know you weren't technically late, but I would like to address this before it turns into a bad pattern of behavior."

"Yes, Minerva," both children echoed.

"Hopefully we will not need to have this conversation again for a while," said Minerva. After they both had nodded their agreement, Minerva began, "Right, lets go over something you should be familiar with: identifying parts of a sentence such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and others."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Even though they weren't learning any magic, Hermione thought her classes would have at least felt a little more _magical_. However, it was just like being in a Muggle primary school. Grammar had been grammar and basic herbology had been just that: basic. They started out by going over the basics of what makes a plant a plant such as the roots, the stem, leaves, stamen, etc. They had also started going over how plants make their own food, and what needs to be in fertilizers to effectively feed plants if the necessary nutrients aren't in the soil. The only magical thing to have happened to them so far was that one of Professor Sprout's more aggressive plants had gotten into a fight with another of its kind, and Sprout had had to break up the fight before they damaged themselves too much. Before class time had ended, Sprout had stunned one of the plants and Draco and Hermione got to assist in bandaging the plant's stem as it had been bitten into by the other plant. Hermione had never seen a plant get medical attention.

Now it was lunchtime and it was shaping up to be an uneventful period as well except for catching up with Fred and George. The twins had asked them how their day was going so far at which neither Hermione nor Draco could report anything exciting. The twins, however, had an interesting tale to tell them about their potion's class that morning with the Ravenclaws.

"This was the oddest thing I have ever seen –" George began.

"—and we've seen odd," Fred finished.

Hermione and Draco exchanged a questioning glance as Draco finally asked, "Well, what was it?"

"Snape," George offered as a simple explanation.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at George as she clarified, " _Snape_ is the oddest thing you've ever seen? I don't understand what that means?"

"Snape was being _nice_ to us Gryffindors," Fred nearly shouted. "He actually told a Gryffindor that he wasn't a complete dunderhead. I do believe that is the nicest thing Snape has ever said to a Gryffindor."

"I don't know what softened the old bat's heart," George said, shaking his head, "but I'm glad for it. With Snape being nicer, class actually wasn't half bad."

Hermione smiled into her soup. She was the unknown change, and she was so happy to hear that her father was making good on his promise. Now, she needed to make good on her promise to help her grandfather. Quickly taking a last small bite of her soup she stood and said, "Right, well I'm off."

"Where are you going?" Draco asked through a mouthful of his lunch.

"Going to find a quiet place to read those books I got earlier from the library," Hermione answered. "I want to get done with them as quickly as possible so that I can go check out more books." With that, she quickly walked away to avoid any further questions.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Finally, it was dinner time, and Severus hadn't seen Hermione since she left lunch earlier. He watched as students filed into the Great Hall for dinner, but none of them were Hermione. Severus eventually saw Draco come in followed by Fred and George Weasley and watched as the children parted ways with the Weasleys heading toward the Gryffindor table and Draco walking up to the High Table to take his usual seat between Severus and Albus. Fewer students were coming in now signifying that the majority of the student body was present for the last meal of the day except for Hermione, and there was no reason she shouldn't have arrived by now.

Shooting Albus a slightly worried glance, Severus sternly addressed Draco, "Where is Hermione?"

Draco quickly looked down the table to Hermione's empty seat, and giving his godfather a puzzled look, shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure," Draco finally answered. "She's been in all of our classes today, and she was at lunch. After our last class, she said she was going to go to the library and read the books she had gotten during our free period this morning. I caught up with Fred and George, and I haven't seen her since then."

Severus let out a frustrated sigh. He had warned her about the library, and it turned out she had chosen to ignore his words and had been in there every chance she had gotten. Seeing the subtle aggravation on the younger man's face Albus said, "She could be doing a lot worse, Severus. She'll be here. If she isn't here in five minutes, Minerva will go collect her."

Before Severus could say anything, he heard Minerva say, "It appears that won't be necessary."

Severus, Minerva, and Albus watched as Hermione entered the Great Hall. She didn't appear to have any books with her as she walked up the center aisle and settled into her place between her grandparents. As she sat down, Hermione refused to make eye contact with any of the adults as she knew she had spent too much time in the library today. So much for not arousing suspicion as to what she was doing.

"Where were you, Hermione?" Minerva asked as she helped herself to dinner.

"In the library," Hermione answered dutifully.

"What were you reading that caused you to lose track of time?"

Hermione couldn't say she was researching Hogwarts because her grandmother would want to know why, and she wouldn't be as easy to shake as Draco had. She certainly couldn't let them know she was looking into Albus' illness as she would then have to admit that she had overheard that it had to do with something called the "elements". She had been all over that library looking through anything and everything that had to do with elements. She had started with Hogwarts because she thought that maybe the Headmasters had elements, or there were elements around the grounds, or Hogwarts was built using certain elements. Then she had thought to look at the usual elements of earth, fire, water, and sky. Maybe someone was using a cursed element to hurt her grandfather. She remembered her Granddad saying that if someone found and removed any elements he would be incapacitated, so that meant there was more than one element and they were objects, able to be removed from somewhere. However, there hadn't been any mention of any elements that were connected to the previous Headmasters of Hogwarts, or the school, or the Dumbledore family. Outside of nature's elements, there was no mention of any element at any time that were put anywhere. The thought made Hermione involuntarily let out a frustrated sigh.

Minerva arched an eyebrow at her granddaughter and pursed her lips as she said, "I have a right to ask you what you were doing that caused you to lose track of time. There is no need for attitude."

"What?" Hermione asked confused.

Giving a quick, worried glance to Albus, Minerva asked, "Hermione, are you all right? What is going on?"

"I'm fine," Hermione answered quickly. Too quickly for her grandparents' liking. "I'm just reading about everything in the magical world. There's so much to know, and I want to know about everything."

"You aren't reading about Animagi are you, young lady?" Albus asked her sternly, peering at her over his glasses.

"No, sir," Hermione answered truthfully.

"Good," Albus said, giving Minerva another quick, relieved glance.

The family was silent again until finally Albus turned to Severus and poked, "Word through the school is that there is a certain professor who is being nicer to a particular House. Some students feel this professor may be Confunded or may be on his death bed and is looking to right some wrongs. Would you know anything about that, Severus?"

Hearing what her husband was saying, Minerva chimed in, "Yes, I have heard these strange rumors as well, which have also included some conspiracy theories that this professor is an imposter or has had his life threatened. Have you heard anything, Severus?"

Severus growled and snarled, "Keep pestering me and I will look at my serious slip in judgment at being more civil towards that sorry excuse for a House."

Severus looked down the table to see Hermione's reaction to both hearing he was being nicer and to his threat. However, all he saw was his daughter absentmindedly pushing her food around her plate. He had seen her barely eat anything at breakfast and lunch, and now she was barely eating anything at dinner. He wouldn't stand for this. They both had worked so hard over the summer to build up her health, and he wasn't going to watch as she slowly made herself ill again. Had something happened to her today? If a person had been responsible for this, then God help that poor, unfortunate soul as he would find them. He would find out what was wrong when they spoke about her day later that evening.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When dinner was over, Draco had asked if it would be all right to Floo his mother. Albus had agreed and told Draco that he could invite her through. Draco had been ecstatic and had ran ahead of the family towards the Headmaster's office in his excitement. He impatiently waited for Albus, Minerva, Severus, and Hermione to arrive so that Albus could say the password to his office, and once they had all arrived inside, Draco ran to the fireplace to call his mother.

After a minute, he took his head out of the Floo and a few seconds later Narcissa emerged with a benign smile on her face as she warmly embraced her son.

"Hello, Draco," Narcissa greeted him with a kiss to the top of his head. "How are you, love?"

"Fine," Draco answered, hugging his mother close.

"Did you have a good first day of class?" asked Narcissa as she softly stroked his hair.

"Yes, but not a lot of exciting things happened unless you count an attacking plant and riding brooms today," Draco reported.

"An attacking plant does sound exciting," Narcissa allowed. She then caught sight of Hermione standing beside Severus and she addressed the little girl, "and how are you doing, Hermione? How was your first day of class?"

"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione said politely. "It's been a good first day. Also, thank you for the journal. It's beautiful."

"Yes, thanks for the journal, Mum," Draco echoed.

"You both are very welcome," Narcissa smiled. "My hope is that it will be useful."

Hermione nodded as Draco blurted, "Oh, Mum! I also met my cousin, Tonks! You never told me that I had a cousin! She's really cool!"

At the mention of Tonks, Narcissa's happy smile turned to hurt as she said, "Yes, you have a cousin. I didn't ever tell you as her mother and I had a falling out. We haven't spoken in years."

"Now that Tonks and I know each other, will you speak to her?" asked Draco.

"It may be a bit more complicated than that, I'm afraid." Narcissa looked briefly to Albus then looked away. Unbeknownst to Narcissa, Albus was well aware of how hard it was to try and repair a damaged relationship with a sibling. He and Aberforth still weren't on good terms, even after all these years since Ariana's death.

Looking back at Draco and putting a smile back on her face for her son's sake she asked, "Do you have homework?"

"A little," Draco answered, disappointment on his face as he looked over his shoulder at Minerva with sad eyes.

"Och!" Minerva protested at seeing his face. "It's two worksheets, Draco, not a ten-foot essay that you got from me! I don't know what your other professors gave you."

"Nothing," Draco mouthed to his mother making her laugh at her son's dramatics.

"I will let you get that finished," Narcissa told Draco as she gave him a light push. "I'll talk to you again soon, sweetheart."

Draco nodded sadly as he threw his arms around her waist and she hugged him tightly to her. "Be good, and I'm glad your first day went well. I don't want to hear that you are misbehaving." Narcissa stared hard at him.

"Yes, Mum," Draco agreed.

"Good night, love. Sleep well, and I love you."

"Good night, and I love you too," Draco told her as he left with Severus to return to the dungeons. Before Severus closed the door, he made eye contact with Hermione and nodded, signaling that he would return to tuck her into bed. Hermione nodded too.

Minerva walked over to Hermione and putting a hand lightly on her shoulder said to Narcissa, "We had best be off as well, so Hermione can finish her work."

"It's already done," Hermione answered. "I did it earlier in the library." All she wanted to do was go into her room and read the one book she had taken with her from the library about Hogwarts. It seemed to hold a lot of promise, and it was incredibly old looking. At this point if she couldn't find any straight answers, then the most she was hoping for was a solid clue.

"Nevertheless," Minerva stated, "we will be going just the same. Good night, Narcissa. It was nice to see you again."

Feeling Minerva nudge her, Hermione said, "Good night, Mrs. Malfoy. Thank you again for the journal."

"Good night, Minerva," Narcissa said, "and good night to you too, Hermione. And again, you are most welcome."

When Minerva and Hermione had left, Albus turned to Narcissa and asked her in a deep, serious tone, "What is Lucius hoping to find out?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, Albus had sent his patronus, letting Minerva know it was all right for her and Hermione to return to their quarters. Hermione was extremely relieved. While she had been sitting with her grandmother, she had been unable to read her book on Hogwarts. However, she had enjoyed talking with her Mimi and bonding some more over tea.

Now that she was back in her grandparent's quarters, all she wanted to do was slip into her room and read. She also thought that Narcissa's journal would be a good place to store her notes too. As soon as she was in her Granddad's office, she made a beeline for her room, but she was derailed as Albus called to her, "Where are you going, pet? I wanted to hear about your day."

"It was good, nothing really happened except flying was fun and we watched two plants tear each other to shreds," Hermione answered him on her way to her room. "Other than that, there isn't anything to report, and I'm going to read a little before I go to bed. Good night, Granddad. Good night, Mimi. I love you both!" She blew them an air kiss, and then slipped into her room.

Minerva and Albus exchanged a confused look as Albus stated, "Well, that was odd."

"Should we ask her what's wrong?" Minerva asked her husband, noting the change in Hermione's demeanor from when they had been talking in her private quarters to when they had arrived here with Albus.

"No, we'll let Severus have his talk with her," Albus answered, staring at Hermione's closed bedroom door. "If it is serious, then we will intervene."

Minerva nodded and both she and Albus walked up to their bedroom.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hermione was sitting in bed reading her book on Hogwarts. She had already brushed her teeth and changed into her night clothes. Her father had said earlier that he would talk to her about her day when he settled her into bed. She didn't know how long that would take him, but until then she would read through this book for any clues. There had to be something somewhere. While she realized it was only the first day that she had really dug into solving this mystery, she was getting a bit frustrated. She just wanted to help her Granddad and she felt she was racing against the clock. Every day he grew a little weaker, and apparently there was someone out there hunting these elements and the unintended side effect was that it hurt Albus. Or maybe it wasn't so unintended. Albus had once told her that over the years he, her Mimi, and her father had gathered enemies. Maybe one of them was very aware of the damage they were doing to him. Whether it was intentional or not, the point was that her Granddad was hurting, and she was going to help him as he had helped her.

With her newly revived resolve in place, Hermione was ready to get back into her book with gusto, but when she heard a knock on the door that joined her room and her father's room, she quickly stashed the book under her bed before she called out, "Come in."

The door opened and in walked her father, a less than happy appearance on his face. Hermione faltered slightly as she asked, "What's wrong?"

"A few things," Severus answered. "First, and most important, is that I want you to continue eating a balanced diet. During breakfast, lunch, and dinner today all I noticed you doing was picking at your food. I am not saying that you should eat two or three helpings, but at least the majority of one plate of food would be beneficial to your growing body. We also spent the summer getting you healthy, and I do not want to see you slip back into the same malnourished state in which I found you. I will not accept that."

Hermione looked away from him. She had been neglecting her food simply because she wasn't hungry. She was so focused on her grandfather's well-being that she had lost her appetite. "Sorry Daddy, I just wasn't hungry today."

"Are you ill?" Severus asked as he gently felt her forehead for a fever.

"No," Hermione said as she brought her knees up and laid her head upon them, still refusing to look at him.

"Then what is wrong?" Severus pushed. "If it is affecting you eating, then I would greatly like to know. I can possibly help you."

Before she could stop herself, she asked quietly, "Granddad's not all right, is he?"

Severus didn't answer. After Albus' health scare last night, he wasn't sure himself if Albus would be all right, and the fact that his condition was likely to get worse if this mystery person found any of the other elements and they had no information to go on, didn't help matters either. Severus was silent for so long that Hermione buried her face in her knees and said, "I'll take that as a 'no' then."

Severus sighed as he rested his hand gently on top of Hermione's head, "Your grandfather is a tough man. He's been in wars and duels both domestic and abroad. He always makes it through. It may take a while, but he will come through just fine."

Hermione merely nodded. Severus closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he continued, "Another thing I wanted to address was your time spent in the library today. I remember telling you watch your time, and to not spend all your time cooped up in there. Is there anything you are looking for?"

"No," lied Hermione, "there's just a lot to learn about this world, and I want to learn all of it."

"If there is something you wish to know, never forget that your family has been in the magical world for some time. We can answer any of your questions," Severus told her.

"Thank you," said Hermione, her head still buried in her knees, "I'll let you know."

Severus remained silent staring at the top of her head. Sensing that she didn't want to talk much, Severus asked one last question, "Did you have a good first day? Anything exciting you want to talk about?"

At this Hermione looked up at him, making eye contact with him for the first time since he had come up to say goodnight and told him with a slight smile, "I heard you were nice to the Gryffindors today. Thanks Daddy."

Severus arched his eyebrow as he drawled, "I only do things like that for very special people. Having to pay a compliment to a Gryffindor caused me great pain and slight nausea."

Hermione giggled at her father's theatrics which caused him to roll his eyes. More at ease since getting his concerns off his chest, he sat back against Hermione's headboard and grabbed their story book to read a chapter to her before bed. As much as she wanted to dive into the book that was currently hiding under her bed, she also wanted to spend this time with her Dad, so she leaned against him as he read, his voice threatening to put her to sleep. When he was done reading, he saw that Hermione had dozed off. He gently shifted himself off the bed so as not to disturb her, kissed her on the forehead, and quietly left her room.

When she was certain her father was gone, she silently got out of bed to retrieve her hidden book. Crawling back into bed she started reading the chapters, carefully combing through all the information for anything pertinent to her current situation. She felt she had been reading for ages when she came across a name that sounded oddly familiar to her.

 _While the Founders of Hogwarts left the school well protected, it eventually came to pass that new enchantments were necessary to keep Hogwarts safe from new threats, both from wizards and creatures. One such Headmistress, Dame Phyllida Spore, well-known herbologist and author of_ One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, _also an accomplished charm caster, specializing in defensive charms, helped put new defensive strategies in place. When Hogwarts came under threat in the fifteenth century, Headmistress Spore put special defenses in place to ensure the safety of those who reside within the castle walls. Those defensive charms are still in place to this day; each new Headmaster combining his or her magic into the defenses of the castle to renew those powerful charms set in place by Headmistress Spore. No one knows whether the Headmaster's magic is the only source fueling the charms or if there are other magical resources; however, the defenses still seem to be enough to protect Hogwarts castle and her students and staff._

Hermione froze, excitement and disbelief coursing through her. Finally, she had a clue! Phyllida Spore was the woman her grandfather had had a meeting with in his office the previous day. According to this book, though, Phyllida Spore had lived in the fifteenth century, so how was he able to meet with her?

Hermione scrambled out of bed to her desk where her journal was lying and flipped open the cover and on the first page wrote _Phyllida Spore – defenses._ Closing the journal, she made a note to do more research into Madam Spore and her defensive charms. Maybe she created the elements, or she mentioned them at some point. Feeling accomplished Hermione put the book back under the bed, climbed under the covers, and turned out her bedside lamp. As she settled down into the bed, she felt better that she had made some headway into this mystery, and she was happy despite knowing that the nightmares would come again tonight.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Narcissa lay in bed awake, mostly due to the stinging sensation in her cheek. When she had returned home from her meeting with Dumbledore, Lucius had been waiting, demanding any information that Draco may have overheard and wanting to know if Dumbledore had said anything. Narcissa reported that there was something happening at Hogwarts that didn't look to be good, but exactly what it was or who was behind it was not yet clear. She told Lucius that Draco had not come upon any interesting information that they didn't already know. When Narcissa couldn't give him anything else, Lucius had grown angry to the point that he had lashed out and struck her across the face. Stumbling back and cowering in fear, Lucius had ground out that the only reason he had sent Draco to Hogwarts was to find out information on Dumbledore and the Granger girl. When she didn't say anything, Lucius and turned and left to go upstairs, the slamming of a door telling her that she didn't have to worry about him for the rest of the night. However, Narcissa had talked with Dumbledore for a long time, figuring out a way to distract Lucius from finding out the truth about anything that involved himself or Hermione. They had hashed out some half-truths that could be plausible and other information that would be completely false but would sound believable.

Another cause of Narcissa's restlessness was the thought of Andromeda. Ever since Draco had mentioned meeting Nymphadora, Narcissa couldn't stop thinking about her older sister. It had been an awful day when her mother and father had disowned her sister in front of the entire family because of the man she had chosen to marry for love rather than stature. Seeing what it was to be disowned, it had scared Narcissa enough for her to choose to marry Lucius so that she wouldn't lose favor with her family and suffer the same exile as her sister. Yet, as she had grown older, she wished that she had had the same strength and bravery as her sister had when confronted with a very angry family, pressuring her to change her mind or else. Andromeda had stuck by her principles, and while she hadn't been able to share her happiness with her immediate family, Narcissa had heard through many accounts that her sister and her family were happy and whole. She hoped that one day soon she could meet her only niece and rebuild her relationship with Andromeda. She knew it wouldn't happen tomorrow, but she held out hope. With that twinge of hope, Narcissa rolled over, finally able to sleep.

Meanwhile, Lucius was still upstairs in his office staring down at two journals that were lying open on his desk. One journal was black, and one was brown. When Narcissa had told him that she was sending a gift to Draco to help him process his thoughts and feelings, Lucius had scoffed at the idea. Then when he saw that she was trying to sneak another journal out of the house along with the black one, both headed to Hogwarts, Lucius had dug through the pile of books Narcissa had tried to disguise the journals within. He read the names on the papers the journals were wrapped in and had been greatly upset when he saw Hermione Granger's name written on one of them. He had intended to throw the journal away and harshly reprimand his wife for intentionally sending a gift out of his house for that girl. However, as he held the journal over the bin, he had been struck with the sudden idea that could prove quite advantageous to him. Before Narcissa could return to send the journals to their new owners, Lucius magically made a copy of each journal. He then charmed both so that whatever the owners of these journals wrote in them, it would also appear in his copies. He would be able to see what the children wrote, if anything. He felt that his son may not write much, but he was hoping that the Granger girl would write plenty of her secrets in the journal, thinking they were safe from spying eyes. Lucius had watched as Narcissa sent the journals away, thinking she had successfully hidden the one gift from her husband. She had no idea.

Now sitting in his cold, dark office, he stared down at both journals to see if either child would write anything about their first day. He had waited a couple of hours, ever since Narcissa had returned from seeing Draco, and had reported that the boy knew nothing. If people were not willing to give him information, then he would simply take it. He was about to give up on the journals, knowing that both children were probably asleep when he suddenly heard a scratching sound coming from the brown journal as though someone was putting a quill to parchment there in his office. When he looked down to see what was written on the page, he frowned as he read _Phyllida Spore – defenses_. That was all that was written. Lucius slammed the journal shut in anger, not understanding what that nonsense meant. He didn't know what that idiotic girl was going on about, but he was going to find out.


End file.
